Question

Can I claim my daughter and grandchildren?

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
November 2, 2021
1 reply
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My daughter and two grandchildren lived in my home for these 9 months of 2021. She worked off and on starting Mid-January. I even paid for her attorney and divorce last year only for her to go back to the deadbeat recently. I am not certain of how much income she made from January to October while living here. She did contribute exactly $1200.00 in these last 9 months to help with bills but my bills just for the house alone are over $2800.00 monthly. Can I legally claim them as dependents for 2021? I have claimed them the last 2 years because it has been the same circumstance only then she did not work, and I paid for her to go to school providing transportation and so forth. However, I am learning that the deadbeat and her want to file their taxes together he has never provided any type of support the times she has left him and moved home. In fact, he has gone 10 months before without seeing the children. I am appalled is it even legal if neither one of them supplied 50% of her and the children's living expenses for the last 9 months of 2021. Can I still legally claim them as dependants as I have done for the last 2 years? Because I in fact and truthfully DID provide childcare and over 50% of their living expenses for 2021.

X

xmasbaby0

Employee

If your daughter and the "deadbeat" are not legally married it would be tax fraud for them to file a joint tax return. A joint tax return can only be filed by a legally married couple.

As for claiming them for 2021----it's tricky---you do not seem to know how much (if anything) your daughter earned in 2021, and the year is not over yet. She may have earned too much for you to claim her. And if she files her own tax return, as a parent she has the first right to claim her own children. You have not mentioned your daughter's age or whether she was a full-time student in 2021---and those two things are very important.

Get more information and post back when 2021 is actually over and you can find out how much your daughter earned in 2021.

IRS interview to help determine who can be claimed:

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/who-can-i-claim-as-a-dependent

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3113432-who-can-i-claim-as-my-dependent

WHO CAN I CLAIM AS A DEPENDENT?

You can claim a child, relative, friend, or fiancé (etc.) as a dependent on your 2020 taxes as long as they meet the following requirements:

Qualifying child

They're related to you.
They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
They're a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
They're under the age of 19 (or 24 for full-time students).

No age limit for permanently and totally disabled children.

They lived with you for more than half the year (exceptions apply).
They didn't provide more than half of their own support for the year.

Qualifying relative

They don't have to be related to you (despite the name).
They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
They're a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
They lived with you the entire year (exceptions apply).
They made less than $4,300 in 2020.
You provided more than half of their financial support.

When you add someone as a dependent, we'll ask a series of questions to make sure you can claim them. There may be other tax benefits you can get when you claim a dependent.

Related Information:

**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.**

F

FedUpParentAuthor

My apologies she is twenty-three and she did apply for FAFSA using my income she enrolled in college classes in July and is taking her classes online.

Critter-3

Then her income is immaterial as you can see from the rules listed in the other post so they can all be your dependent as long as there are no other people where they qualify as dependents. If your income is higher than any other non parents then you will win the tie breaker rule if 2 people try to claim the same dependents.