My D,, moved out June w her daughter. stayed with son until she found apt. Now her x boyfriend says he is claiming the daughter. can she claim daughter as dependent?

[JJFHydraulic1]

And how to prove she had her 6 months. While staying with her son she was not on the lease.

[DianeW777]

It depends. The boyfriend wouldn't be allowed to claim the child if it is not his child.  The following link will give more details to review based on your daughter's situation.  By looking at the link below,  you will be able to determine who is eligible to claim the child.

• Who can I claim as a dependent?

[JJFHydraulic1]

Yes he is the father of the child, and the child and mother did live with him for just over 5 months. 

[DawnC]

Only one of them can claim the dependent.  The parent who had the child for the most days of the year is considered the custodial parent.  The custodial parent is the parent that can claim the child.   

Parents who are divorced, separated, never married or live apart and who share custody of a child with an ex-spouse or ex-partner need to understand the specific rules about who may be eligible to claim the child for tax purposes. This can make filing taxes easier for both parents and avoid errors that may lead to processing delays or costly tax mistakes.    Please see the IRS page that details this issue.  

If both parents (or two unrelated people) claim the same child on separate returns, the IRS will intervene. 

[JJFHydraulic1]

I understand how it is supposed to work. She had her daughter 6 and a half months-LONGER. But he says he is claiming her. She must provide half the support; she stayed with her son for a couple months until she found an apartment. I think she paid him some $ but does that count as her providing full support during that period since it was his household? And most of all. How does she prove she moved out 6 and a half months before the end of the year?  She was not on the lease of where she temporarily moved to? And then it took her a month or so to change her address etc. She even applied at a new job using her former address as she did not yet have a permanent one.

[Vanessa A]

If the IRS intervenes and uses the Tie Breaker Rules then your daughter could get a sworn affidavit from her son saying that he started living with her in June or whichever month she moved out.  If your daughter was providing the support for her daughter while living with her son, and paying him to stay there she would still be able to claim her daughter as a dependent.  Assuming her daughter is a minor, the rule is that her child cannot provide more than half of her own support and to claim Head of Household, your daughter would need to provide more than half of the support for the household.  A household does not necessarily mean all of the people in the house as people can have roommates that are not at all related tax wise and would not be considered in the calculation of the support of the household. 

Since she lived with her mom the longest during the year, she is the one who would be the one to claim her. 

If he claims her, whoever files second, their return will be rejected if they try to e-file.  The second person will need to print and mail the return, then the IRS will use the Tie Breaker Rules to decide who gets to claim her.