The only parent who can claim the child and dependent care credit is the parent where the children lived more than half the nights of the year. This is true even if there is a court order to share the child tax credit in alternating years. The ability to claim earned income credit, the child and dependent care credit, and head of household status always stays with the parent who had custody more than half the nights of the year, and these tax benefits can’t be waived, transferred, or shared.
