topic My boyfriend (not married) wants me to claim his sons. I am head of household and have supported them all year. Do I list them as my sons and me there step mom in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

My boyfriend (not married) wants me to claim his sons. I am head of household and have supported them all year. Do I list them as my sons and me there step mom

shanny_m1983 — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 10:17:06 GMT

Re: My boyfriend (not married) wants me to claim his sons. I am head of household and have suppor...

Vanessa A — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 03:25:59 GMT

No, you would not list them as your sons or you as their step mom. You would list them as "Another person" . The rules for claiming non relatives are different than for claiming a relative.

Did your boyfriend have any income? If he did, then you may not be able to claim his sons. Depending on who else lives in the household, you may not qualify as head of household for tax purposes. If you have children of your own, then you would be able to claim them to qualify as head of household and possibly for the child tax credits.

The best way to determine if you can claim them is to enter them on your return and click on the learn more links and answer each question carefully.

Re: My boyfriend (not married) wants me to claim his sons. I am head of household and have supported them all year. Do I list them as my sons and me there step mom

xmasbaby0 — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 03:30:52 GMT

No. They are not your sons so saying that they are would be fraudulent. If you and BF are not legally married then you are not a step parent.

If BF cannot claim his own children (no income?) then if the children lived with you ALL year you can claim then as dependents but only for the $500 credit for other dependents. You cannot use them as qualified dependents to file as head of household, and you will not get the child tax credit or earned income credit for them.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4499708-what-is-the-500-credit-for-other-dependents-family-tax-credit

If you have your own qualified dependent related to YOU, then you can file as HOH. Otherwise you file as Single and claim the kids.

Am I Head of Household?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894553-do-i-qualify-for-head-of-household

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2900097-what-is-a-qualifying-person-for-head-of-household

If you qualify as Head of Household, when you enter your marital status (single or married filing separately) into MyInfo, and then enter your qualifying dependent, TurboTax will offer HOH as your filing status.

If BF had less than $4400 of income not counting Social Security and lived with you all year, he can also be claimed for the $500 credit.

Re: My boyfriend (not married) wants me to claim his sons. I am head of household and have supported them all year. Do I list them as my sons and me there step mom

Mike9241 — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 06:42:09 GMT

to claim head of household you must have a dependent related by blood.