@gertrudesfuti The IRS issued the child tax credit based on the 2020 tax returns because that was the only information that they had when issuing those payments. Since you had the children's father claim them in 2020 the IRS started paying him in July for all the kids he claimed last year.
The child tax credit was $3600 for each child under 6 and $3000 for each child between 6 and 17. The government gave half of that credit in advance in monthly payments from July through December. So the amount your children's father received was either $250 or $300 per month per child he claimed last year.
According to the IRS this should not have affected your ability to claim the full child tax credit for last year. As long as the payments were not sent to you and as long as you are not married to your children's father then the amount that he received should not have effected your return at all.
I hate to recommend this because I think getting ahold of them on the phone is a nightmare but I am afraid that you will have to contact the IRS to get this fixed. They’re not easy to get a hold of. Call first thing in the morning and prepare to be on hold for a long time. This is the link to use to get ahold of them.
When speaking to the IRS you will need to make sure to have a copy of your 2021 tax return in front of you. Also, it would be helpful to have your children's father's information (name, address and social security number) available in case they ask about who received the payments instead of you.
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