My husband passed. His mother sued me for custody. We are "joint managing conservators. My kids live with her at the moment, I have to pay child support. How do I claim?

[sami_lamb_2014]

There is no final ruling. I pay child support to her. How do I properly list this on my taxes

[xmasbaby0]

Very sorry for your loss.   Child support is not deductible nor is it taxable income for the person who receives it.  You do not enter anything about child support on your tax return.  

[DoninGA]

Child support paid or received is not a factor.

Whomever the child lives with for over one-half of year is the one that can claim the child as a dependent and is therefor the custodial parent.  If you are not the custodial parent then you do not enter the child on your tax return.

[Opus 17]

The IRS does not follow state custody orders or court disputes.  The federal tax law says that, for children under age 19 (or full time students under age 24) they can be claimed as "qualifying child" dependents of a parent or grandparent where they live more than half the nights of the year.  There are a couple of other items, but the fact that you pay some, or even most, support, is not used in the determination.

So the question is, where did the children live more than half the nights of 2025?  If with you, you are allowed to claim them as dependents.  If your mother in law, then she is allowed to claim them as dependents.  If the children did not live with either of you more than half the year (like, maybe they lived with their father for 3 months, you for 4 months, and grandmother for 5 months) then no one can claim them as "qualifying child" dependents, and we would need more information to determine who can claim them as "qualifying relative" dependents which is the other classification.