My adult daughter and her two children moved in with me in July 2012. It is my understanding only one person per address can be head of household, and that person certainly is me. However, what do we do about dependents? She doesn't make nearly enough to support herself and children, and in that regard she is dependent upon my help. She, of course, would like to claim herself and her children on her return. If she claims herself, can she claim one child and I the other? Are we allowed to do that? I feel I should be able to claim all 3 of them, but that deprives my daughter of her right to claim her own children, correct? To make matters more complicated, she does receive a small amount of child support. Does the father have any claims at tax time? They are legally separated but not divorced. She lived under my roof the entire year of 2013. Thank you in advance for your help and suggestions.

#1;in general yes in your case. According to the TAX LAW, only one person per address qualifies to file as hoh on a federal tax return. Only one person can claim hoh status per address. If more than one person files hoh, the IRS may audit both returns to determine who is eligible to claim the filing status.however, there is an exception allowed. The rule of one per home is just the limit. aslongas there are separate living units, i.e. multi-family dwelling then more than one family can file returns as hoh but your home is a single dwelling unit then , what you say is correct.







#2;then, your daughter can’t file her return as hoh; to claim hoh,she must pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home for her and her qualifying persons, children in this situation, for the tax year.she can’t claim the children on her return unless she supported them over 50% financially during the tax year she is claiming the exemptions.as she can’t claim her children, you can claim her and her children on your return as qualifying children If they lived in your household for at least six months,if they did not live with you for more than six months,then,.youcan still claim your daughter and grandchildren as your qualifying relative unless her gross income was more than $3,900 for 2013.if not, then you may claim your grandchildren on your return even if your daughter files her return since she can’t claim her children, If your daughter is your dependent, she can't have dependents of her own. You may be able to claim them,but you will not get any child tax credit for her,but could for your grandchildren . Also, the non-custodial father may erroneously think he has the right to claim the children due to biology. He doesn't. In order for a non-custodial parent to claim a child, not only must he has a signed form 8332, (as your daughter is a custodial parent)they must qualify under special rules--and one of those criteria is showing how the parents (mom and dad) provided more than half of the child's support.including their share of room and board where they are living. If she didn't work and they lived with you, the father doesn't appear to qualify unless he handed over a lot of financial support.



#3;as mentioned above.

#4;as mentioned above.it depends.

#5;as mentioned above.

Thank you for your prompt and thorough response. There is one question, if you could clarify please ... if she is not HoH, then you mean she is thus unable to claim her children? The only person eligible to claim dependents is the one who is HoH? Thanks very much for your time and expertise.

#1;Not really; it depends; even if she can’t file her return as HOH, aslongas she meets the requirements to claim her children as dependent, then yes, she can,What I mean is that assume that she files her return as single ,NOT as HOH, then once she meets the requirements, then she can claim them as her dependents even if her filing status is not HOH.



#2;No it depends on the situation.Assume that your daughter, As a married person, may be considered as if she were unmarried for the purpose of qualifying for head of household status. To be considered unmarried, she needs to be legally married and have lived in a separate residence from her spouse for at least the last six months of the year, but assume that she has lived in a separate residence from her spouse for less than six months, then she can’t file her return as HOH but must file her return as single. However, as single aslongas she meets the requirements to claim her children as her dependents, then she can claim them on her return as single filer. A single person can claim two dependents on a tax return if the dependents/ the single filer meet the necessary IIRS guidelines.