I have 50/50 custody of my son and have always claimed him before because my ex wife doesn't work this year she wants her boyfriend to claim myson can they do this?

[remingtonspa]

My ex wife wants her boyfriend to claim my child because she doesn't work and he claims her as a dependent Her and I have split custody and I have always claimed my son in the past can her boyfriend claim  my child?

[jennsurvis]

In the custody agreement does it say only u are to file? In my custody agreement it says every other year. He gets to claim my daughter one year, me the next. And so forth. I'm sorry but if it doesn't state only u are to claim your son thenshe has the right. My daughters father snuck and had his girlfriend claim her a couple years ago. I was livid

[adamgay13]

If you got papers saying y'all got to take turns claiming and the other parent don't. You can always take them to court. Just go ahead and file and claim the child. You will get a paper from the irs asking are you the one legally able to claim the child. You will need to get proof up saying you are. And Mail all info that will help you out back to irs. If they are happy with your paper work then you want have nothing else to worry about and want here anything else from them. And the other parent will have to pay back the eic( earn income credit). If they did not like what you sent then they might audit you for the money back. But in the end it pretty much who ever claims child first kgets the money. For parents who have joint.

[AnnaB]

If the custody agreement waives the right to the other parent - only they can claim it, not a significant other.  Therefore, in this case that does not apply.  In addition, the child would only be a qualifying relative to the boyfriend since they are not related.  The first rule for a qualifying relative is that the person in question cannot be a qualifying child of another taxpayer.

[AnnaB]

In addition, his ex-wife is a dependent on the boyfriend's return.  If you are a dependent of someone else, you cannot have any dependents.  This means the child does not meet the requirements to be a qualifying child for her - so there is no complication in that case.

[AnnaB]

Please note my answer has been updated for another disqualification as well as a note regarding how to handle a situation where the boyfriend has already claimed the child and what would be expected of you both when the IRS questions you both claiming the child.

Just to note, the additional qualification is another rule for a qualifying relative.  If you are claiming a dependent as a qualifying relative and they are not related to you, they must have lived with you the entire year.  This is not agreeable to a joint custody situation.

[AnnaB · Accepted solution]

No, since your child is not related to your ex-wife's boyfriend (assuming he hasn't adopted him or gotten married which would make him a step-child), his only option would be a qualifying relative.

The first rule for a qualifying relative is that the dependent cannot be a qualifying child of another taxpayer.  In addition, a qualifying relative that is not related to you has to live with you the entire year to qualify as a dependent.  Since you do have income and had joint custody which means the child lived with you for at least half the year, you would be the person who claims the child as a dependent and all related benefits.

In addition, if your ex-wife is claimed as a dependent, your child is not a qualifying child of her.  You cannot have a qualifying dependent of any sort, if you, yourself, are a dependent.

When entering your child in TurboTax, you should indicate that they lived with you for more than 6 months or else they would not be a qualifying child.  The IRS expects you to determine who the custodial parent is based on who had the child for more nights during the year.  However, being that you ex-wife does not file a tax return, is not even eligible to claim the child as a dependent and you have joint custody, the child should be your qualifying child dependent.

Note: in the event the boyfriend files his return before you do and claims the child, you will not able to e-file your return since the dependent social security number would have already been used.  You can mail your return and it should be processed.  You will both received letters to provide proof of your circumstances.  All you would need to provide is support that the child lived with you for more than 6 months of the year (which 50/50 custody would indicate) and that your ex-wife is a dependent and is not eligible to claim the child.  You do not need to prove support - a qualifying child cannot provide more than 50% of their own support; however, the person that claims them, does not need to provide more than 50% themselves.  The burden of proof for the boyfriend will be much more difficult.  First, he would have to prove the the child lived with him for the entire year (which was not the case) and that he personally provided more than 50% of the child's support. The rules for a qualifying relative are more strict and have a higher burden of proof.

[adamgay13]

I use to have the same problem. Since you both got fifty/fifty custody. The way it works is, who ever files the child first gets the money. Now if you can show you provided more than half the care for the child, an if they clam your kid you can always clam them too. You both will end up having to show proof of where the kid lives the most or who took most care of the kid. Then one of y'all will end up having to get audited of it. But if you can not show proof and she claims your kid before you do, then your just out of luck and next tax season beat her to file. So first come fisrt get