My kids were with me half the year i have became homeless sent them to texas where they spent weekends at nanas and weekdays with dad and his girlfriend dad owes child support and will not file but hi

[twins3811]

Girlfriend is trying to claim although they were not there the entire year can she claim them

[DanaB27 · Accepted solution]

Usually, children need to have lived with you more than half a year and met the other requirements to be your qualifying child  to be able to claim them.

 Who can claim a child depends on who is the custodial parent. The person where the child spend most of the nights is the custodial parent for tax purposes.The IRS will go so far as to require counting the nights spend in each household, if exactly equal and more than 183 days the custodial parent is the parent with the highest Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), if less than 183 days then neither parent has custody and the child cannot be claimed by either parent.

If you had the right to claim your children because they met all the requirements to be your qualifying child but someone else claimed them, then you will have to file a paper return to claim the children. Be prepared to show proof to the IRS that you had the right to claim them. 

Please see How do I print and mail my return in TurboTax Online? for additional information.