Your father in law can be claimed as a dependent if the following applies:
- Not a Qualifying Child - One of the first requirements for qualifying child is a certain, defined relationship. Father-in-law is not a qualifying relationship to be a qualifying child dependent. Therefore he would pass this test.
Member of Household or Relationship Test - To meet this test, the individual must meet one of the following:
Gross Income Test - He cannot have more than 4,050 dollars of income. This doesn’t include social security income. If social security income is all he receives, he would pass this test.
Support Test - You would need to provide more than half of his support. Fill out worksheet 2 on page 16 of IRS Publication 501 to make sure you meet this requirement.