My husband died in 2015. My son is 21, a FT student and I support him. I s/b a qualifying widow with my son as a dependent but TT says I'm single, no dependents. Why?

[donnaj777]

I have not remarried. The Turbo tax shows my marital status is widow. It shows no dependent deduction.  It says "We need you to review some questions about your dependents" but I've filled in all the questions except for the custody one that doesn't apply. He's my son, I pay his expenses, he's a full-time student and he's under 24.  What am I doing wrong?

[Hal_Al]

You don't say where he lives and whether he is married.
A child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” (QC) dependent, regardless of his/her income, if:
1. He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or is totally & permanently disabled
2. He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support. Scholarships are considered third party support and not as support provided by the student.
3. He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school) for more than half the year
4. He must be a US citizen or resident of the US, Canada or Mexico
5. He must not file a joint return with his spouse or be claiming a dependent of his own
6. He must not be the qualifying child of another taxpayer

[donnaj777]

Thanks everyone!  I needed to answer the custody question even though it didn't pertain to me.  Turbo Tax should revise the program so it isn't so confusing.  Anyway, I answered it saying I was taking the dependent and it worked!  I'm now Head of Household with my son as a dependent.

[Anita01]

Thank you for taking the time to let us know it worked out for you.  so sorry about your loss!.

[Anita01 · Accepted solution]

You also cannot simply skip questions.  You do need to answer custody related questions to indicate the child lived with you more nights than any other parent and you are not giving the right to claim the child to another parent.  Even though you know the spouse who passed away was the child's other parent, the program has no way of knowing that.  The child could have been the child of another living parent to whom you were married before the last marriage.  Sorry it's so convoluted but people's marriages and children often stem from convoluted circumstances so we have to ask.

[SweetieJean]

Go to Personal Info, Dependents, Make sure you said your son did NOT proivide more than 50% of his own support.