Your biological children only count as dependents for the child tax credit and for possible stimulus credits if they lived in your home more than half the nights of the year.
If they lived in the home of the other biological parent more than half the nights of the year, that biological parent gets to claim them as dependents, even if that biological parent has passed away in 2021.
Why Haven’t People Who Just Got Custody Been Told This?
- The IRS does not rely on such concepts as 50-50 custody or court orders, the IRS relies only on where the children physically lived.
- You would get credit for any nights the children lived in your home during a custody sharing arrangement.
- You would need to show that the children lived in your home for 30 more days. This might be weekends or vacations during the first half of the year if you were sharing custody under a court order or other arrangement.
If you can’t add up your custody time to 183 or more nights, you can’t claim the children as “qualifying child“ dependents and they will not qualify for the advanced child tax credit.
However, a qualifying relative dependent only gives you a $500 tax credit, does not give you the enhanced child credit, the advanced payment of the child credit, or a stimulus rebate.
Visit our office today to speak with a Generational Wealth Specialist for more information.