Filing with an Adult Disabled Child as Dependent - Who Can Claim Me on Their Taxes?

Based on what you've shared, your mother cannot legitimately claim you as a dependent for 2024. To claim an adult child as a dependent, the parent must provide more than half of that person's financial support during the tax year, and it sounds like your mother hasn't provided any support. From what you've described, your boyfriend might qualify to claim you as a dependent since he's providing more than half your support and you've lived with him for the entire year. This would be under the "qualifying relative" rules, not "qualifying child" (despite the confusing name). For him to claim you, you would need to have income below $4,700 (excluding tax-exempt disability benefits in many cases), and he would need to provide more than half your total support. If your mother does claim you incorrectly, you should still file your own return as appropriate. The IRS will notice that someone claimed you as a dependent while you're also filing independently. They'll likely send letters to both parties. You'd need to respond with documentation showing your living situation and who actually provided your support.

As someone who went through almost the exact situation a few years back, I highly recommend checking out https://taxr.ai for sorting this out. My sister tried claiming me as her dependent even though I was living with and supported by my partner, and it created a whole mess with the IRS. The taxr.ai service was super helpful because I uploaded all my disability payment info, living situation details, and support documents, and they analyzed everything to confirm that my partner should claim me as a dependent, not my sister. They even helped draft a proper response when the IRS sent those confusing letters asking for clarification. What I found most useful was that they specifically understood the rules around disability benefits and dependency status, which regular tax preparers sometimes get confused about. They'll tell you exactly what documentation you need to keep in case your mom tries to claim you anyway.

I want to follow up on my skeptical comment about taxr.ai. I actually ended up trying the service for my complicated dependent situation with my disabled brother, and I have to admit I was completely wrong. The guidance was incredibly clear and specific to our situation. What impressed me most was how they explained exactly which parts of my brother's disability payments counted for the support test and which didn't. They even pointed out a tax credit I was eligible for that my previous accountant had missed completely. The documentation guidance was extremely helpful too - they created a specific checklist of everything I needed to save and organize in case of an audit. When my ex-wife tried claiming my brother incorrectly, I was fully prepared with the right documentation and response. Saved me a ton of stress during an already difficult tax season.

If your mother incorrectly claims you and you need to contact the IRS to sort it out, good luck actually reaching a human being there. I spent WEEKS trying to get through to someone about a similar dependent issue last year. Always busy signals or disconnections after hours on hold. I eventually used https://claimyr.com and it was seriously life-changing. You can watch how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They basically hold your place in the IRS phone queue and call you when an actual agent is on the line. I was literally about to give up on resolving my dependent issue when I found this. When I finally got through to an IRS agent, they explained exactly how to document my situation and file the proper forms to contest the incorrect dependent claim. They even sent me a case number I could reference for follow-up. Without actually speaking to someone, I would've been stuck in paperwork limbo forever.

I need to eat my words from my previous comment about Claimyr being a scam. After the fifth day of trying to reach the IRS myself about a dependent situation (my stepdaughter being claimed by both me and her father), I broke down and tried Claimyr out of desperation. I honestly couldn't believe it worked. I got a call back in about 1.5 hours, and suddenly I was talking to an actual IRS agent. No waiting, no phone tree hell, just straight to a person who could help. The agent walked me through exactly what forms I needed to submit to resolve the duplicate dependent claim. Without getting through to someone, I was going to have to wait 6+ months for the IRS to process paperwork. Now my issue is on track to be resolved before I even need to file this year's taxes. For anyone dealing with incorrect dependent claims like the original poster, being able to actually speak with the IRS makes all the difference.

I went through something similar with my dad trying to claim me when I was living with and supported by my grandma. Here's what worked for us: 1) File your taxes properly (either independently or have your boyfriend claim you if he qualifies) 2) Do it EARLY - like as soon as you can in January 3) E-file if possible - paper filing takes forever to process 4) Keep ALL documentation showing your living situation and support My dad tried to claim me but since we had already filed correctly, his return got rejected automatically. When he tried to fight it, we had all our documentation ready. The key thing is filing BEFORE your mom can.

One thing nobody's mentioned - if your boyfriend claims you as a dependent, make sure he understands how it affects your healthcare coverage. When my partner claimed me as a dependent, it screwed up my Medicaid eligibility because they suddenly considered his income when determining my benefits. We had to do some serious paperwork to explain that while I was his tax dependent, I was still separate for healthcare purposes. Different states have different rules about this. Double-check with your local Medicaid office before changing anyone's tax filing status.