May I claim a grandchild whose parents do not support?

[DianeC958]

If someone else has claimed the children on their return who are not related they need to be able to prove they provided more than 50% of the support for the children and that they children lived with them for more  than half of the year and that no one else can claim them as a qualifying child.

Link to Rules for Claiming a Dependent

[20tree]

Hopefully you have custody by now because the parents do not need to give you custody of the child the judge needs to. Please please go to the court house and file the papers!!

[DawnC]

The IRS is not interested in the court's custody decisions.  The rules for tax purposes are the same no matter who the courts have granted 'custody' to.   One parent may have court custody but if the other parent has physical custody, that parent is the one who can claim the dependent or give permission to the other parent to claim custody.  

You can claim a child, relative, friend, or fiancé (etc.) as a dependent on your 2019 taxes as long as they meet the following requirements:

Qualifying child

• They're related to you.
• They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
• They're a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
• They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
• They're under the age of 19 (or 24 for full-time students).
  • No age limit for permanently and totally disabled children.
• They lived with you for more than half the year (exceptions apply).
• They didn't provide more than half of their own support for the year.

or Qualifying relative

• They don't have to be related to you (despite the name).
• They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
• They're a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
• They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
• They lived with you the entire year.
• They made less than $4,200 in 2019.
• You provided more than half of their financial support.

When you add someone as a dependent, we'll ask a series of questions to make sure you can claim them. There may be other tax benefits you can get when you claim a dependent.

Related Information:

• Does a dependent for 2019 have to live with me?
• What does "financially support another person" mean?

[DebAllen57]

My granddaughter has lived with me for the pas year, I have been her sole support. I claimed her on my taxes which I filed by e-file . I just learned that my daughter who has legal custody of her but has not contributed to her support also claimed her & filed before me. Will her claim take presidence over mine ?

[JohnB5677]

Not necessarily.  I suggest that you gather anything that will prove that you did support her and that she lived in your home.

You and your daughter will shortly receive a letter from the IRS .  There will be questions regarding the status of your granddaughter.  Answer them accurately and return the completed forms.

It may be to your advantage to bring them to a local IRS office Find a local IRS office.  They may be able to give you guidance and forward it to the main office.

@DebAllen57