Can I claim Head of Household

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
February 11, 2025
1 reply
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I claimed my disabled ex-husband as my dependent (we legally divorced). I lived with him and cared for a full year because he cannot live alone due to his health condition. My ex-husband received disability benefits of more than $5,050. My filing status is reported as a single. Can I change my filing status from single to head of household? I read that other relatives can be considered qualifying dependents for the head of household filing status. I finished my return. Should I amend my return?

TurboTax Basic Windows

Best answer by NCPERSON1

Thank you for your reply. I claimed my disabled ex-husband as my dependent (we legally divorced 4 years ago) but filed as single. To be honest, I was confused. Even though we lived together, I provided more than half the total support for the year; no one claims him, and he has only disability income; I cannot file as head of household because he isn't my qualifying relative, am I correct?

it is confusing. The rules to be a dependent are different that who qualifies to be your dependent for HOH purposes.

Someone who lives with you all year (and meets the other qualifications to be a dependent as stated above) and is not related to you by blood can be your dependent. However, to be a Qualifying Person (the technical requirement for HOH), that person must generally be a blood relative (excluding cousins).

So the issue here is that while your ex-husband qualifies to be a dependent, he is not related to you by blood, so it doesn't meet the requirement to file HOH.

@ele_25

xmasbaby0

Employee

No--your ex-husband cannot be a qualifying dependent for Head of Household filing status. He is like a roommate who is not related to you.....sorry.

Am I Head of Household?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-filing-status/qualify-head-household-2021/L0NxUtVc2_US_en_US?uid=m5x19jkx

What is a "qualifying person" for Head of Household?

If you qualify as Head of Household, when you enter your marital status (single or married filing separately) into MyInfo, and then enter your qualifying dependent, TurboTax will offer HOH as your filing status.

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**

ele_25Author

We legally divorced 4 years ago. I thought he would be categorized as other dependent for me because I paid more than 90% of the cost of maintaining a qualifying household, paying all expenses, including rent, utilities, repairs, and groceries. Can I claim him as my dependent, not filing as a head of household? I filed my return, then should I amend my return removing him from my dependent, or the IRS would adjust it? What should I do?

xmasbaby0

Employee

If his income was less than $5050---not counting any Social Security--- he can be claimed as a dependent to get the $500 credit for other dependents. But he cannot make you eligible for HOH filing status.