Teenager who Lives with me 100% of the time and works Being claimed by mother.

[TxsFddlr]

My child who is 17 and lives with me full time (due to a divorce)  and made over 10k is filing his tax with Turbo Tax and has some questions. The custody was to be split 50/50 however they refuse to live with the other parent, who is ok with that as long as I continue to pay child support. They are  claiming themself and we are  confused about the dependent question on the form . The other parent per divorce decree was to claim them this year,  however they did not live with that parent for more than 1 month out of the year. If they claim "no one can claim them as dependent", it seems to have an impact on them getting a stimulus and return amount . How does this impact myself and my ex-spouse who will be filing married , seperate? How would you recommend handling it?It appears to me one parent would lose a child tax credit and stimulus for them but he would lose stimulus that he would never see otherwise. 

[DJS]

Several issues here. First, he can't say that he can't be claimed by someone else since he clearly can be. Second, you say that your ex wife is filing married, filing seperately, but she can't do that if you're divorced. If she was the one eligible to claim him as a dependent, but chooses not to, then you should get a letter from her to that effect, and then you may claim him as a dependent since he lived with you and you provided more than half of his support. 

See the following: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/family/rules-for-claiming-a-dependent-on-your-tax-return/L8LODb... 

[TxsFddlr]

Thank you for the response... We were married last year, and were divorced in Sept. although she moved out in Febuary. I wasn't sure if she could claim him since he lives with me 100% of the time. and she does not provide anything at all for him.  That is where the confusion comes in.