I have legal guardianship of my cousins - parents are deceased. There is no option for cousin & if I put - other, they don't qualify for a dependent. What do I select?

[KJ00]

I have legal guardianship of my cousins - parents are deceased.  There is no option for cousin & if I put - other, they don't qualify for a dependent.  What do I select?

[Carl]

Select your child. That's because it doesn't matter what you select. If they are related to you (and they are) then your 1040 tax return is going to show the dependent as *your child* no matter what you select.

[Hal_Al · Accepted solution]

Select "My Child".  

Cousins are not considered "closely related" for tax purposes, and normally you cannot claim a cousin as a "qualifying child".**

But, "legal guardianship" makes them your "foster children". Note that at the box where you check "my child", it says       "(includes adopted, foster and  stepchildren)".

**There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and standard ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, a relationship test and residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit. They are interrelated but the rules are different for each. A cousin could normally  only be considered under the qualifying relative rules. https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Family/Rules-for-Claiming-a-Dependent-on-Your-Tax-Ret...