topic Can I claim my grandchildren my son and his wife got divorced in September and she only had the kids 28 days of 2024 in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Can I claim my grandchildren my son and his wife got divorced in September and she only had the kids 28 days of 2024

Coronna — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 00:35:56 GMT

Can I claim my grandchildren mom and dad got divorced in September 2024 the kids lived in my home all year she had them 28days but when they got divorced he signed the sacred stating he had to give her form 8332 to release his rite to claim one of the girls he only made 8000 all year and was on foodstamps and Medicaid I supported the household including paying mortgage electric ext can I still claim both girls

Re: Can I claim my grandchildren my son and his wife got divorced in September and she only had t...

RobertB4444 — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 18:40:02 GMT

According to the IRS in order to be a qualifying child they must pass these tests-

Any age and permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year. For more information, see Disability and Earned Income Tax Credit.

Under age 19 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse, if you file a joint return)

Under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student for at least 5 months of the year and younger than you (or your spouse, if you file a joint return)

To be a qualifying child for the EITC, your child must be your:

Son, daughter, stepchild, adopted child or foster child
Brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, stepsister or stepbrother
Grandchild, niece or nephew

To be a qualifying child for the EITC, your child must live in the same home as you in the United States for more than half of the tax year. The United States includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. military bases. It does not include United States possessions such as Guam, the Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico.

Temporary time away from home

If your child was temporarily away from home, we count that as time lived with you. For example, your relative may temporarily leave the home because of:

Illness or hospitalization
School attendance, vacation, business or military service
Detention in a juvenile facility
Kidnapping

In addition the child must not provide more than half of their own support.

[Edited 01/30/25 09:35 AM PST]

@Coronna

Re: Can I claim my grandchildren my son and his wife got divorced in September and she only had t...

Coronna — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 00:45:20 GMT

So he relinquished his rite but don’t i ultimately have the only rite to claim both girls

Re: Can I claim my grandchildren my son and his wife got divorced in September and she only had t...

RobertB4444 — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 18:32:50 GMT

According to the IRS in order to be a qualifying child they must pass these tests-

Any age and permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year. For more information, see Disability and Earned Income Tax Credit.

Under age 19 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse, if you file a joint return)

Under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student for at least 5 months of the year and younger than you (or your spouse, if you file a joint return)

To be a qualifying child for the EITC, your child must be your:

Son, daughter, stepchild, adopted child or foster child
Brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, stepsister or stepbrother
Grandchild, niece or nephew

Temporary time away from home

If your child was temporarily away from home, we count that as time lived with you. For example, your relative may temporarily leave the home because of:

Illness or hospitalization
School attendance, vacation, business or military service
Detention in a juvenile facility
Kidnapping

In addition the child must not provide more than half of their own support.

[Edited 01/30/25 10:32 AM PST]

@Coronna

Re: Can I claim my grandchildren my son and his wife got divorced in September and she only had t...

Hal_Al — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 01:17:11 GMT

Q. So he relinquished his rite but don’t i ultimately have the only rite to claim both girls.

A. No. Technically, you meet the requirements for the children to ne your "Qualifying Child" dependents, but you still need your son's permission (only verbal) to do so (I assume he lives with you and the children). To do so would violate the court order to release the dependency to the mother. If you claim that child, the IRS will allow it. The mother's only remedy would be to take you and your son to court. Judges take a dim view of having their orders violated. So, you should only claim the one child.

If you son's $8000 of income is from working, he can partially claim the mother's dependent for the Earned Income Credit (EIC).

There is a special rule in the case of divorced & separated (including never married) parents. When the non-custodial parent is claiming the child as a dependent/exemption/child tax credit; the custodial parent is still allowed to claim the same child for Earned Income Credit, Head of Household filing status (your son can't claim HoH), and day care credit. This "splitting of the child" is not available to parents who lived together at any time during the last 6 months of the year; then only one of them can claim the child for any tax reasons. The tax benefits may not be split in any other manner.

Note in particular that the non-custodial parent can never claim the Earned Income Credit, Head of Household filing status or the day care credit, based on that child, even when the custodial parent has released the dependency to her.

So, it's a good idea to let the other parent know that you will be claiming those items, as many first time divorced parents are not aware of this rule and may try to claim those items, which will cause the IRS to send out letters.