Here is how child tax benefits can be split: For divorced or separated parents or parents who live apart, the custodial parent, if eligible, or other eligible person who the child lived with for more than half the year, can claim head of household filing status, the credit for child and dependent care expenses, the exclusion for dependent care benefits, and the earned income credit. The non-custodial parent, if allowed by divorce decree or consent of the custodial parent on form 8332 or similar signed statement, can claim the dependency exemption and child tax credit. For post-2008 divorce decrees or agreements, form 8332 or similar signed statement is required. The child tax benefits cannot be split any other way.
So it would depend on who the custodial parent was who the children lived with more than half the year and how each parent claimed the children on their tax returns. If you were the custodial parent, claimed the child as living with you more than half the year, and did not release the dependency exemption to the other parent, you should have received all of the tax benefits. If you released the dependency exemption to the other parent, then that parent would have also received the child tax credit.
What exactly did you received on your tax return? If you were allowed to file as head of household, then you must have claimed at least one child as the custodial parent.
"...but I didn't get any credit for my children..." What credit do you mean?
If your ex was allowed to claim the children and did, then your ex would receive the child exemption and child tax credit. The only credits that you could receive, in addition to the HOH filing status, would be the EIC (if you qualified) and dependent care credit (again if you qualified and had expenses).
Thank you for the information. I had it wrong. The tax preparer (which by the way is my ex husbands friend and the same person who does my ex-husbands taxes) filed myself as single NOT head of household however, the children live with me.
If you were legally unmarried as of December 31, 2013, you would file as single. You could file as head of household if you paid for more than half the cost of keeping up the home where you lived (counting all sources of support, such as your own income, friends, charity, state aid, other family and child support, you must provide more than half) and if you provided care in that home for one or more qualifying persons, usually your child-dependents. Your children qualify you for HOH if they lived with you more than half the nights of the year.
For your 2013 tax return, originally due April 15, 2014; you have until April 15, 2017 to file an amended return. If you believe you were qualified to claim your children as dependents you can do that. Amended returns can take up to 6 months to process, and you should expect that the IRS will contact you asking for proof that your children really lived in your home more than half the year in 2013. There's no guarantee they will accept the return but it does not hurt to try.
To amend a return that was not originally filed with turbotax, you will need to buy a copy of turbotax for 2013 and install it on your computer. Then, recreate your original 2013 return EXACTLY, and "file" it by telling the program you will print and file by mail. Then save, quit, restart, and use the program to prepare an amended return that changes the information you want to change.
General amending instructions are linked here.
Amend https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3288565