Step child

[Kierrabgreen98]

My wife has a child from previous marriage, the court order in place does not specify who can claim the child. From our understanding if it doesn’t specify, it’s basically just whichever biological parent filed first. However the court order does specify that I, the stepparent am responsible for the child’s healthcare. Can I claim my stepchild as my dependent or child tax credit?

[John-H2021]

Hi Kierra,

If the divorce agreement did not specify who claims the children as dependents, then the custodial parent gets to claim them. If you have joint custody, the parent who has the child the greatest number of days during the tax year gets to claim the child as a dependent.

[GabyC-EA]

The child is the qualifying child of the custodial parent. Generally, the custodial parent is the parent with whom the child lived for the longer period of time during the year.

If the parent cannot agree on who is the custodial parent, then the custodial parent is the one who meets the following requirements:

• 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.
• In most cases, because of the residency test, the custodial parent claims the child on their tax return.
• 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.

The IRS also has Tie-breaker rules when the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person.

• The parent, if only one of the persons is the child's parent,
• The parent with whom the child lived the longest during the tax year, if two of the persons are the child's parent and they do not file a joint return together,
• The parent with the highest AGI if the child lived with each parent for the same amount of time during the tax year, and they do not file a joint return together,
• A non-parent, if no parent claims the child as a qualifying child although he or she may do so and only if the non-parent's AGI is higher than the highest AGI of any parent who may claim the child, or
• The person with the highest AGI, if none of the persons is the child's parent.

This information is found in Publication 501, Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information.

However, the non-custodial parent can claim the child if:

1. The custodial parent signs a Form 8332, Release/Revocation of Release of Claim to Exemption for Child by Custodial Parent or a substantially similar statement, and
2. The noncustodial parent attaches the Form 8332 or a similar statement to his or her return.

This will allow you to claim the child as a dependent and to qualify for the child tax credit or credit for other dependents.

However, you (non-custodial parent) may not claim the child to qualify for the

- Head of household status

-  Earned income credit

-  Child and dependent care

-  Health coverage tax credit