Problems with filing status. Divorced, claiming my son as my dependant, ex wife signed form 8332 for me to claim our son 2015,2016 and 2017.Can I File Head of household? Last year she claimed head of house hold even though I claimed my son as dependant, (

[CaptainDaddy]

I know she plans to again claim head of household, is that her legal right to do so if she signed form 8332 for the three year period?
Any help greatly appreciated.

[sceptre2017]

The rules for claiming head of household and those of claiming a dependent are similar but different. Your claiming a child as a dependent does not mean you are head of household; nor does allowing you to claim your son as a dependent mean she loses the ability to claim head of household. I included the IRS Publication 501 which lists the rules for claiming the Head of Household status. 

IRS Publication 501 - See page 8 for Head of Household Rules

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf

[Howard1948]

You cannot claim HOH filing status unless you actually had a qualifying person living in your home more than 1/2 the year.  Just being able to claim a child as a dependent does not make you the custodial parent.