HoH Filing Status

[KBTS]

Last year, client lived with his girlfriend and their child from January to mid-November. They split up and he moved back home with his parents for rest of year. During the time they lived together, he paid the majority of household expenses. Since the breakup, they have been splitting custody of the child. Can he file as HoH?

[DonB]

Who did the child sleep with the most? 1/1 thru 11/15 it 50/50. If the child was with the mother more nights at the end of the year, he cannot claim HOH. Nor could he claim the dependency without a release from her on form 8332.

[Gretel]

Not so fast. I believe he is the only one who can file HOH since he paid over half of the cost of keeping up the home.
But only if he is able to claim the child. If parents don't agree, tie breaker rules will apply.

[mactoolsix]

Not so fast. I believe he is the only one who can file HOH since he paid over half of the cost of keeping up the home.
But only if he is able to claim the child. If parents don't agree, tie breaker rules will apply.

However, as DonB said, if the qualifying child did not live with the father over 1/2 of the year, he may not claim HOH.
At the same time, since the mother did not pay over 1/2 the cost of the household, she could not claim HOH either.

Mike

[KBTS]

However, as DonB said, if the qualifying child did not live with the father over 1/2 of the year, he may not claim HOH.
At the same time, since the mother did not pay over 1/2 the cost of the household, she could not claim HOH either.

Mike

The child lived with both dad and mom from January to mid-November - so clearly child lived with dad more than 1/2 year. Either parent could claim the child as a dependent; and as Gretel noted, the tie breaker rules would apply if they cannot agree. The issue I am struggling with is the fact that he moved back with his parents and did not pay to maintain a home for the last 1 1/2 months of the year. Does this disqualify him from HoH?

[Gretel]

It surely does not.

[DonB]

First, HOH must pay over half of keeping up the childs home for THE of the year. TTB pg 3-16. No HOH.

FYI: See TTB page 3-17; Custodial Parent. "Defined as the parent with whom the child resides for the greater number of nights during the calender year." It is NOT "over 1/2 of the year".

[appelman]

More heat than light.

Let's cut to the chase. Custodial parent is decided by number of nights. This will also determine the dependency exemption, unless waived under the rules for children of divorced or separated parents. However, someone who claims the dependency exemption only because of such a waiver is not eligible to claim HofH with this child. See instructions to Form 1040, line 4. So the father will only be able to claim HofH if the child lived with him the majority of nights, which seems not to be the case here.

[Gretel]

Let's cut to the chase. So the father will only be able to claim HofH if the child lived with him the majority of nights, which seems not to be the case here.

...but only if the parents do not agree that t/p claims the child.

[appelman]

I disagree!

...but only if the parents do not agree that t/p claims the child.

Only the custodial parent can claim HofH, regardless of agreement on the dependent exemption. In this case, the custodial parent will be the one with whom the child lived the longest during the year. If, after the breakup, the child had gone to live with Aunt Betsy, the times for the two parents would be same, and the custodial parent would be the one with the higher AGI, presumably the father.

[DonB]

Agree and Disagree

Only the custodial parent can claim HofH, regardless of agreement on the dependent exemption. In this case, the custodial parent will be the one with whom the child lived the longest during the year. If, after the breakup, the child had gone to live with Aunt Betsy, the times for the two parents would be same, and the custodial parent would be the one with the higher AGI, presumably the father.

Agree that only the custodial parent can be HOH, but they may be disqualified on other rules. If CP is living in parents home, no HOH unless they are paying over 1/2 of the cost of upkeep for the home. And don't forget the rule of "for THE (entire) year".

[DonB]

Agree that only the custodial parent can be HOH, but they may be disqualified on other rules. If CP is living in parents home, no HOH unless they are paying over 1/2 of the cost of upkeep for the home. And don't forget the rule of "for THE (entire) year".

I was seeing this wrong. I retract my thoughts about "the year" being the entire year. Lived with the TP over six months is good. Tax law is so confusing--

[appelman]

However...

I was seeing this wrong. I retract my thoughts about "the year" being the entire year. Lived with the TP over six months is good. Tax law is so confusing--

You must pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year.

[Gary2]

You must pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year.

But this doesn't mean more than half the support on each of 365 days, otherwise no custodial parent would be able to be HoH if the kid spends a month during the summer in the other parent's household.

For example, if the child spends 200 nights with parent A, and 165 with parent B, and each parent pays 100% of the costs of their own household, then you would compare 200/365 of parent A's household costs against [200/365 of parent A's annual household costs plus 165/365 of parent B's annual household costs], to make sure it's more than half. Or, to be really precise, you'd use the actual household costs during the time the child is actually present, to account for the incredibly long hot showers, inevitable light bulbs left on, and the inability to keep the refrigerator stocked in the presence of a child.

In other words, the fact that the father lived with his parents for the last month and a half is only likely to a disqualification if the "majority" he paid during the time they were living together was such a slim majority that it doesn't outweigh the costs paid by his parents during the last month and a half. Or if the parents live in a mansion and shop at Whole Foods while he and the ex lived in a hovel and shopped at Wal-mart. And so on.

[Gretel]

Custodial?

What I am still confused about is how all the issues of divorced and separated parents were involved in this post. Original post clearly says girlfriend. Yes, poster uses the word custody but that is just a word and doesn't change the facts.