I was a victim of his abuse for 13 years. Married to him. When I tried to leave him and take my kids he almost killed me and ended up putting me in a hospital and left state with my kids. I've had a pending child support case opened for 3.5 years. He took all forms of identification that I had. I can't even prove who I am on id.me I filed and claimed my kids because it's my right. And it got rejected because he already claimed them, he refinanced my student loans while i was on deferment from covid and bought a house. I'm really struggling to find answers. I just found out the courthouse had a sworn statement by him under oath, that we don't have kids together, i have birth to all 5 so why did you rip them from me because i got sick of being your punching bag..I still haven't filed 20 21 22 23 because he literally stripped me of my identity, my kids, my own family.
If the kids do not live with you, you cannot claim them on your return. If there is a court order that he has the kids, then they would not be considered kidnapped. This would be about the only way you would be able to claim them as living with you when they do not.
If you have a tax liability for those years, you should file a return. You can print and mail your return without your dependents on it without an ID. You do not need an ID to file a tax return, you just need to know your social security number.