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Best answer by Mock

In order for anyone to claim a dependent on his/her tax return the following Qualifying Child Rules have to be met: 

To be a Qualifying Child -

1. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.

2. The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year, (b) under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student or (c) any age and permanently and totally disabled.

3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year. Temporary absences while away at college are considered living with you.

4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.

5. If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child. 

6. The child must be a U.S. citizen or U.S., Canada or Mexico resident for some portion of the year.

7. The child must be younger than you unless disabled.

NOTE: However, if a divorce decree or court order gives your ex-spouse the right to claim the children, he can do so if he attaches key pages of that document to his tax return. Whereas, if no divorce or separation decree states that the noncustodial parent may claim the exemption or there is no written declaration from the custodial parent, tiebreaker rules are in effect. The parent who the child spends the most time with may claim the dependent.

For more information about Qualifying Child: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/a-qualifying-child 

Here's a link with more information about TurboTax Tax Dilemmas Tipshttps://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/family/the-dirty-dozen-12-tricky-tax-dependent-dilemmas/L20FwLL...

14 replies

Level 9
June 6, 2019
Who does your son live with?
npgAuthor
Level 2
June 6, 2019
He lives with me 10 months out of the year I support him 100%, BUT i have a court order that allows my EX to claim him this year.  He doesn't support him at all.  Is there a way around it?  He is attempting to allow his girlfriend to claim the child bc he is self employed and the deduction is not necessary for him this year.  What do I DO?
Level 9
June 6, 2019
If there is a court order in place, you should consult with an attorney.
npgAuthor
Level 2
June 7, 2019
I have, They told me to consult a tax accountant.
npgAuthor
Level 2
June 7, 2019
Our order states that if He cannot claim the child I get to. The problem is he is allowing someone else to claim our child.  My return is getting denied.  Should I paper file and send a copy of the court order.
npgAuthor
Level 2
June 7, 2019
So i read that i need to file by mail and claim the child as "appropriate"... is that the same as just simply filing by mail? Or is there something special i need to do?
Level 11
June 7, 2019
In this situation, you are correct that the girlfriend cannot claim your son just because the father gave her permission.  In this case, you should paper file because once you do, the IRS will do an investigation to see who claims the child.  Unfortunately, when that happens your husband can step in and amend his taxes to claim because technically it is his year, but if you do not do the paper file the IRS will just allow the girlfriend to claim because no one disputed it.  Let me know if you have any other questions.
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Level 9
June 7, 2019
Just a minute and I will get a TA to give you some advice.
Level 11
June 7, 2019
Yes, when you finish your TurboTax entries, select to file by mail (if you try to efile and she already did file it will just get rejected).  Unfortunately, the IRS does not have a method where you can provide an explanation- you will have to wait for them to contact you (which they will)
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npgAuthor
Level 2
June 7, 2019
Ok thank you.  My attorney reccomended sending a copy of the final court order and a cover letter explaining the situation. Im not sure if this is necessary but i will do that as well.