Confusing Questions with Residency and a New Baby

[jakeshaffer14]

Hi All,

I am in a bit of a confusing situation. My fiancee and I found out we were pregnant while living in Texas.

Both of our families live in PA, so we moved back to the area at the end of June to stay with her grandparents while we looked for a place to live. We both got PA drivers licenses within the week, but due to residency requirements, we could only invoke the moving back to former residence clause, meaning that my address according to my drivers license is my fathers house, hers is her grandmothers house. The baby was born was registered through the hospital to live at the address on my fiancee's license, her grandmothers house. We signed a new lease and moved out on December 27,2019 but we still have not updated our licenses. In short, my permanent address was different than my my mailing address(and address according to my drivers license). We both collectively make >$45K per year and paid all costs for our child, but paid no rent to her grandparents as we were saving to get our own place and pay new child expenses. Who can claim our child as a dependent on their 2019 taxes? Can I still file head of house hold because I was for >1/2 the year in Texas? Can I say that we both lived with the child, or do I have to report that my fiancee and I had 2 different addresses so she was the parent living with and I was not, even though I stayed there every night and all of my clothes and possessions were there.

Thank you!

[MarilynG1]

The biological parents always have first right to claim their child.  Since you lived together all year (no matter where that was, or whether it matches your driver's license), the parent with the highest AGI claims the child (tie-breaker rules).

The only way someone else could claim either of you (or your child) is if they 'provided over half of your support' and with your income, that would not be feasible, even if they provided temporary housing for you.

So the parent with the highest will file as Head of Household and claim your child on your return.   Click this link for more info on qualifications for head of household.

This link gives more detail on Tie Breaker Rules.