divorced parents

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
February 21, 2023
3 replies
39 views

My ex is claiming our child as dependent - per our settlement agreement.

I want to know if I can use Head of Household filing status (not dependent), using our same child, because she lives with us the same number of days.

Is the ex allowed to claim her as her dependent if she lived with me longer?

Bsch4477

Level 15

The ex is only allowed to claim her if you give them permission by giving them a signed form 8332. This is assuming that you are the custodial parent (the one with whom the child lived with the most nights). Should you give them the dependency, you can still file as Head of Household using that child and can also claim child care credit and EIC if otherwise qualified. The other parent only gets child tax credit.

Having written the above, your settlement gave the other parent the dependency and if you use IRS rules to avoid that, it is then a civil matter for the court to enforce. The IRS pays no attention to divorce agreements.

HopeS

Level 8

No, only one person can claim the child as a dependent and or head of household. Your spouse or your return will be rejected if you both are using the same social security number for the child on your return. The custodial parent should claim the child and get head of the household status.

Generally, only one person may claim the child as a qualifying child for purposes of the head of household filing status, the child tax credit/credit for other dependents, the dependent care credit/exclusion for dependent care benefits, the dependency exemption, and the EITC.

See IRS Publication below for more helpful information:

Divorced and Separated Parents

@rsalci

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rsalciAuthor

Level 2

i have gotten 3 different replies, making it more confusing to me.

my ex is the custodial parent, but the child lives equal times with both of us. This is her year to claim our child. But since the child also lives with me equal time - I thought I could take Head/Household status - NOT claiming the child and NOT taking any of the associated credits. Just to get the status H/H.

So now am I to understand that I cannot do that?

Carl

Level 11

It's all covered in IRS Publication 504 at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p504.pdf

Carl

Level 11

Whatever your decree may say doesn't matter to the IRS. The IRS has their own set of rules for divorced parents, as to who can claim the child. Only a federal judge can change that. Since federal judges don't deal with separation, divorce or custody cases, I'm highly confident that will never happen.

Under the IRS rules, it's perfectly possible for who the IRS recognizes as the custodial parent to change year to year. Only the custodial parent as defined by the IRS can claim HOH, provided of course they meet the other requirements for that filing status. This is true even if the custodial parent signs IRS Form 8832 giving the non-custodial parent the right to claim the child for that year.