hello; my grandkids live with me all year i'm the custodial parent; but this year i allowed my daughter to use them as a dependent how do i split them?

[Vanessa A]

 Does your daughter live with you?  What do you mean by how do you split them?  

If she does not live in the same house as them or did not live with them for more than 6 months of the year, then she would only be able to claim the Child Tax Credit for them.  She cannot claim Head of Household, The Earned Income Credit or the Child and Dependent Care Credit, those are only able to be claimed by the custodial parent. 

If she does live with you and you provide more than half of the  cost of care maintaining the home then she still would not be able to file as Head of Household even if she does claim the kids. 

(Edited 2/19/2025 @3:57AM PST) @1PENNYG69

[Opus 17]

You can't do that AT ALL. 

The procedure to "split" a dependent is only allowed between parents who are divorced or separated and share custody.  It is not allowed between a parent and grandparent.

If the children lived in your home more than half the year (more than 183 nights) then only you can claim them as dependents and you are not allowed to share them with their biological parent (technically, it is probably fraud).  If the mother also lived in your home more than half the year, so that both you and your daughter qualify to claim the children, you can't split the dependent benefit.  One of you claims everything and the other claims nothing.

If your daughter does not live in your home, the only way you can claim the children as dependents is to say they lived with you more than half the year, there is no custody agreement, and you claim all the benefits.  You will have to file by mail.  Your daughter will have to file an amended return to remove the children, or else she can expect the IRS to contact her about the duplicate custody problem and she may owe back taxes and a penalty.  Or, keep quiet, let your daughter claim them falsely, and you claim nothing.