who gets to claim child on income tax?

Question

I have a general question. One of my friends in a custody battle with his son's mother. currently no one has full custody of the child till a study is conducted. He has filed claiming his son since he was born, yet now that the mother having hard times financially she placed the child on her tax return. The child was actually living with my friend but not until the mother ran into hard times did she wish to have him back. I was wondering since he has in the past filed with his child included and the child did live with him for the majority of the year other than when he went over to the mom's house, does he have a right to file over her?

Answer 1

If he provided 50% or more of the childs support over the last year, and he had custody for 6 months or longer, then he is the one that has the right to file for the child care credit, etc. not the mother.

Answer 2

Generally speaking, when there is a split household, the right to claim the children on tax returns goes to the parent that they spent over half the year with, and provided more than half of living expenses (child support payments do not count here). Often there is an agreement in the divorce or custody case stating exactly who is to claim the children on tax returns. If both claim the child, the IRS will most likely ask for proof of who provided the majority of support and disallow the other's deduction.

Answer 3

The fact that your friend had claimed the child in past years has nothing to do with who gets the exemption for this year. But since the child lived with him for over half the year, he would be entitled to claim the child unless there's a court order that says otherwise.