In January you will receive a letter from the IRS that shows how much of the advance child tax credit for 2021 was sent to you between July and December 2021. Enter that on your tax return when asked. If you are not claiming the children on your 2021 return you will not receive any more CTC. If your "ex" is claiming them then he will be the one who gets the CTC as part of his refund. If you cannot claim them for the CTC then you might have to pay back the amount you received already.
Are you the custodial parent? Do you have an agreement with the other parent to allow the other parent to claim them--due to divorce or that you live apart and share custody? Did one of you sign a Form 8332?
If there is a signed 8332 then the custodial parent retains the right to file as Head of Household, get earned income credit and the childcare credit. The non-custodial parent gets the child tax credit for children under the age of 17.
As far as the IRS is concerned, the custodial parent is the one with whom the child spent the most nights during the tax year--at least 183 nights.
If you are a non-married couple who live together then only one of you can claim the child(ren) and the one not claiming the child does not enter anything at all on their tax return about the child.
**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**
