Can I claim my non-biological son on taxes since he's lived with me full-time?

Thanks for the clarification. So if two people are eligible to claim a child (like both the mom and the non-bio dad in this case), who gets priority? Is there some tiebreaker rule the IRS uses?

The IRS does have tiebreaker rules for situations where more than one person could claim the same child. If both parents (biological or not) could claim the child, the IRS gives priority to the parent with whom the child lived for the longer period during the year. Since the child lived with you since February and only visited mom on weekends, you would have the stronger claim here. If somehow the time was exactly equal, the tiebreaker would go to the parent with the higher adjusted gross income. But in your case, the residence test should be clear enough - the child lived with you for the majority of the year.

How exactly does this work? Do you just upload your tax docs and it tells you if you qualify? Does it deal with complex situations like shared custody?

I'm skeptical... does this actually help with IRS guidelines or is it just another tax software trying to get you to pay for a full return? I've been burned before by "free" tax help.

You upload your documents and it analyzes them based on current tax law. I had W-2s, proof of address, school records showing my address, and some receipts showing I was buying things for her. It gave me a detailed breakdown of exactly which IRS rules applied to my situation. For shared custody situations, yes, it handles those really well actually. It looks at the number of nights the child stays with each person and helps determine who has the stronger claim. It even gave me language to use if her bio dad tried to claim her too.

Wait, you can actually get through to a human at the IRS? I thought that was impossible these days. I've literally spent hours on hold before giving up. How does this actually work?

Sorry but this sounds like BS. Nobody gets through to the IRS quickly. I've tried everything and still end up on hold for 3+ hours only to get disconnected. No way this actually works.

It works by holding your place in the IRS phone queue so you don't have to stay on hold. They use a system that monitors the hold line and calls you when an actual agent picks up. I was skeptical too but was desperate to resolve my situation. The service doesn't actually talk to the IRS for you - it just handles the waiting part. When I got the call back, I was connected directly to an IRS representative who helped resolve my dependent dispute. They verified that my documentation (school records showing my address, medical records I paid for, etc.) supported my claim since the child lived with me more than half the year.

Thank you for this advice. What kind of documentation would show the mom acknowledges the living arrangement? We don't have anything formal since we never went to court over custody.

Text messages or emails where she mentions or confirms the living arrangement can work. If you have any written communication where she acknowledges the child lives with you most of the time, save it. Social media posts can sometimes help too. Child support payments (if you receive any) can also establish the arrangement. If she listed you as a contact on school or medical forms, that's also useful. Even if you don't have a formal custody agreement, building a paper trail of everyday life showing you're the primary caregiver can be very convincing to the IRS.

With TurboTax, select "Other eligible dependent" or sometimes they have an option like "Not related but member of household." Then it'll ask if they lived with you for more than half the year - make sure to say yes. It'll calculate the correct credit for you. I've done this for years with my partner's kid.