Qualifying Child or Qualified Relative for College Student

[paca123]

Divorced parent.  Child was 19 last year and finished out high school at my home January - May but did visit the other parent a few weekends a month and spent some time over summer months before heading to university full time mid August.  Since they were 19 there was no custody order for visitation in effect any longer.

We believe she would be considered a Qualified Child but keep getting confecting information on how to apply the rules.

The qualifying Child Rules seem to apply for age (under 24, full time student), Relationship...but for Residency is that considered since they are over the age of 18 (emancipated)?

I have gotten 3 different/conflicting answers:

College student is not considered emancipated even though they are over 18.  Time away at college is used but is tacked on to the parent they spent the most time with prior to college. Tiebreaker rule still applies and again looks at who they spent the month time with and since it was not equal time AIG would not come into play.

College student is considered emancipated due to age so time is not counted for either parent so that rule does not apply but they still qualify as a child but it would go to tiebreaker rule where only the AIG is used to determine who should claim not the number of nights/days spent.

College student is considered emancipated so they don't meet the residency requirements of a Child but instead it considers them a qualified Relative and that goes based on who spent the most money supporting them.

Can someone please confirm which of the 3 would apply?

[leeloo]

Child is qualifying child and you are the custodial parent.  You have the greater right to claim the dependent.

Qualifying child

• They're related to you.
• They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
• They're a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
• They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
• They're under the age of 19 (or 24 for full-time students).
• No age limit for permanently and totally disabled children.
• They lived with you for more than half the year (exceptions apply).
• They didn't provide more than half of their own support for the year.

Custodial parent and noncustodial parent.   The custodial parent is the parent with whom the child lived for the greater number of nights during the year. The other parent is the noncustodial parent.

  If the parents divorced or separated during the year and the child lived with both parents before the separation, the custodial parent is the one with whom the child lived for the greater number of nights during the rest of the year.

  A child is treated as living with a parent for a night if the child sleeps:

• At that parent's home, whether or not the parent is present, or
• In the company of the parent, when the child doesn't sleep at a parent's home (for example, the parent and child are on vacation together).

Equal number of nights.   If the child lived with each parent for an equal number of nights during the year, the custodial parent is the parent with the higher adjusted gross income (AGI).