This is my first year for this, but can I claim my 89 year old, legally blind mother-in-law as a dependent? We were forced to bring her into our home last summer, because of bureaucratic crap with the state and assisted living facility, she got the short end of ignorance, but that was then. So is it possible, or are we stuck with it?

“can I claim my 89 year old, legally blind mother-in-law as a dependent?”----> As long as you meet the criteria to claim your MIL as your dependent; as a taxpayer, you who claim your MIL as your dependent can claim an additional personal exemption, $3,650 for 2010, I guess for the dependent. To calim your MIL( your qualifying relative) as your dependent, You are required to provide more than half of the dependent's total support during the year; If the dependent is married, the dependent cannot file a joint return with her spouse; your MIL earns less than less than $3,650 in2010. Your MIL, as a single , 65 or older and blind, doesn’t need to file her return UNLESS her gross income is higher than $12,150; $3,650+$5,700+$2,800( additional standard deduction as 65 or older and blind)=$12,150.
“ So is it possible, or are we stuck with it?”---> As a qualifying relative, your MIL doesn’t have to have the same residence as you do as for more than half the year