Head of Household After Divorce

I have a problem that someone on here may have also experianced. Lady wants to claim head of household with her qualifying child who is not a dependant per divorce decree. According to her; in years past, the father claims the child on his tax return as a dependant, even though the child lives with her all year. Is it possible for the father to be claiming the child as a dependant and the child still be a qualifying person for Head of Household for the mother ? Essentialy what she is claiming is that this one child gives both parents the ability to file as Head of Household, but only one, the father per the divorce decree, gets the dependancy exemptions.

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Reply to
Howard
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The lady can file as head of household if she has a qualifying person living in the household for more than six months. If the person is a qualifying child, then only she can file as HOH using that child. The qualifying child for HOH does not necessarily have to be her dependent. The father can not file as HOH using that child. The father can claim an exemption for that child if the mother either 1. Releases the exemption via IRS Form 8332 or 2. Releases the exemption using a signed statement that contains the language of Form 8332 or 3. the divorce decree (post 1984) contains all four of the following: a statement that gives the exemption unconditionally to the father; a statement that the mother will not claim the exemption for the year; a statement that identifies the year or years; the mother's signature.

Reply to
A.G. Kalman

Yes. In all cases except children of divorced/separated parents the 5 tax attributes of a "qualifying child" must go to the same taxpayer. In this case the custodial parent can give the dependency exemption and child tax credit to the noncustodial parent while keeping the other three attributes, one of which is HofH filing status. See IRS Publication 501.

No, she isn't. Only she can use the child as a qualifying person for HofH filing status since the child lives with her. The child need not be claimed as a dependent.

-- Phil Marti Clarksburg, MD

Reply to
Phil Marti

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (Howard) posted:

Yes. See Pub 17, where it clearly defines that a qualifying child (son, daugher, grandchild) who lives with you more than half the year, and is single, is "a qualifying person for filing as Head of Household, _whether or not you can claim an exemption for the person."

That's wrong. The father can get the dependency exemption from the divorce decree, but _not_ be able to file as HH, because the child did not live with him for more than half the year. Ironically, a _parent_ can be a _qualifying relative_ for purposes of filing HH, even though that parent doesn't live with you _if_ the parent is a qualifying relative (for whom you can claim an exemption). Bill

Reply to
Bill

Actually only she could be HH no matter than he gets to claim the child as dependent, for HH the child must live with you for more than 6 months

Reply to
Rod

Not true, effective 2005. Before then an unmarried child living in your home was a qualifying person for HofH. Now the child must qualify as a dependent. IOW, the adult child working and living at home is no longer a qualifying person for HofH. When the parents don't live together the custodial parent can still give the exemption to the noncustodial and use the same child for HofH.

-- Phil Marti Clarksburg, MD

Reply to
Phil Marti

You neglected to look at those "certain other tests." When you do you'll learn that in order to be a "qualifying child," your child must meet age or income restrictions. Thus, an adult child who isn't a student and earns more than $3,300 isn't a qualifying child, he's a qualifying relative. When you look at the qualifying relative portion you'll find that you must be able to claim a dependency exemption, which you can't because of the income. This was a change effective 2005.

-- Phil Marti Clarksburg, MD

Reply to
Phil Marti

You neglected to look at those "certain other tests." When you do you'll learn that in order to be a "qualifying child," your child must meet age or income restrictions. Thus, an adult child who isn't a student and earns more than $3,300 isn't a qualifying child, he's a qualifying relative. When you look at the qualifying relative portion you'll find that you must be able to claim a dependency exemption, which you can't because of the income. This was a change effective 2005.

-- Phil Marti Clarksburg, MD

Reply to
Phil Marti
[...]

Per tax court, the exception also includes never-married parents.

-Mark Bole

Reply to
Mark Bole

And, since that TC decision, according to the IRS. Since they must have been together for at least 30 seconds some time, unless they've made improvements I haven't heard of, I consider them separated.

-- Phil Marti Clarksburg, MD

Reply to
Phil Marti

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