Can i claim a child thats not mine without fathers consent

[dboice03]

Mother has custody boyfriend has supported child whole life

[Vanessa A]

It depends.  If you are not the biological parent and the biological parent can claim the child, then NO, you cannot claim the child.

If you are the mothers boyfriend and they both lived with you for the entire year, and the mother does not need to file a return and she did not sign for 8832 allowing him to claim the child, then yes, you then you may be able to claim the child as a qualifying relative for the $500 Non-Refundable Other Dependent Credit as well as file as Head of Household. 

To claim someone as a Qualifying Relative, they must be:

• Your child ( including step children, adoptive children and foster children) or a descendent of them
• Your sibling (including half siblings) or a child of your sibling or a sibling-in-law
• Your parent or grandparents, including step parents and in laws
• Any other person that lived with you for the entire tax year
• Not a qualifying child of another taxpayer
• Someone that you provided over half of their support for during the tax year
• Has less than $5,050 in income (not counting social security)

[Hal_Al]

Q. Can I claim a child, that's not mine, without father's consent?

A. Yes. An absentee father (a non custodial parent) is not relevant. You only need consent from the parent the child lives with (the custodial parent).

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit and student status test, a relationship test and a residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit. The Other dependent (qualifying relative) credit is worth (up to) $500 per dependent and is non-refundable.  That is, it can only be used to reduce an actual tax liability.

A person can still be a Qualifying relative dependent, if not a Qualifying Child, if he meets the 6 tests for claiming a dependent:

1. Closely Related OR live with the taxpayer ALL year
2. His/her gross taxable income for the year must be less than $4700 (2023) ($5050 for 2024).
3. The taxpayer must have provided more than 1/2 his support

In either case:

4. He must be a US citizen or resident of the US, Canada or Mexico
5. He must not file a joint return with his spouse or be claiming a dependent of his own
6. He must not be the qualifying child of another taxpayer (he cannot be the QC of the biological father because they don't live together)

He must have a US social security number or tax identification number (TIN)

In addition to the above requirements, to claim your girlfriend's children, they must meet all of the above requirements and:
--- your girlfriend must not be required to file a return,
--- she does not file a return claiming the children

---she must not have given the biological father permission to claim the child (on form 8332)