Can I claim Head Of Household? I have had emergency custody of my little girl since late last September and we lived with her mother up to that point (not married).

[TNdad]

I took emergency custody of my little girl in late September of last year and she has lived with me since then.  Prior to that point, we all lived in the same house since her birth.  Me and the mother were never married.  We live in Tennessee.

[Coleen3]

Maybe, since she lived with both parents over half the year, it would come down to who paid the cost of maintaining the home.

Head of Household

You may be able to file as head of household if you meet all the following requirements.

1. You are unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the year. See Marital Status , earlier, and Considered Unmarried , later.
2. You paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year.
3. A qualifying person lived with you in the home for more than half the year (except for temporary absences, such as school). However, if the qualifying person is your dependent parent, he or she doesn't have to live with you. See Special rule for parent , later, under Qualifying Person.

Qualifying Person

See Table 4 to see who is a qualifying person. Any person not described in Table 4 isn't a qualifying person

From <https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501#en_US_2017_publink1000220814>

Costs you include.

 Include in the cost of keeping up a home expenses such as rent, mortgage interest, real estate taxes, insurance on the home, repairs, utilities, and food eaten in the home.

Costs you don't include.

 Don't include the cost of clothing, education, medical treatment, vacations, life insurance, or transportation. Also, don't include the rental value of a home you own or the value of your services or those of a member of your household.

[TNdad]

What if I had the highest income...she didn't have any legal income or very little during the year.  

[Coleen3]

It's not just about income. You have to pay to maintain the home. For example, a third party paid your expenses, then you would not be HOH.

[TNdad]

10-4.  It was a complicated situation.  My child's grandmother's name was on the house along with her mothers and the grandmother made the house payment from what she collected from the both of us.  I paid "my half" of the rent/house payment which turned out to be more than half of the total payment until me and little girl moved out.  You can see why I have questions!

[Coleen3]

Unfortunately, it has to be more than half. It also includes food eaten in the house.

[TNdad]

She lived with me exclusively at a different address for almost 4 months of last year during which I paid for food/rent/utilities.  So I would have paid for more than half of her living expenses.

[Coleen3]

You have to pay the cost of maintaining the home(s) you both shared for over half the year. So, for 6 months and one day, you must have paid more, regardless of which house you are looking at.