How many months should I count for dependent who splits time between parents?
I'm trying to figure out the whole months thing in TurboTax for my custody situation. My ex and I have perfect 50/50 split custody of our daughter. She stays with me half the week and with her mom the other half. This arrangement never changes - no vacation months or anything like that, just consistent throughout the year. I was looking at the TurboTax instructions and got confused because it says if the dependent lives with you for part of a month, you can count the whole month. So technically, does that mean I should put down all 12 months since she lives with me part of every single month of the year? The complication is that my ex is claiming our daughter as a dependent this year (we alternate years), so I'm not claiming her. But TurboTax is still asking me about the number of months she lived with me. I've checked through the help section and old forums but couldn't find anything specific to this situation. Anyone know the right way to handle this? Thanks for any advice!
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Raul Neal
This is actually a common question with split custody arrangements! The "months lived with you" question in tax software is primarily used to determine if your child qualifies as your dependent under the residency test, but since you've already established that your ex is claiming the child this year, how you answer won't affect your tax return directly. When a child lives with you for any part of a month, the IRS generally considers that as a full month for residency test purposes. With your 50/50 arrangement where the child spends some time with you every month, you could technically count all 12 months. However, since you're alternating years for claiming the dependent, you should simply be consistent with how you report this information each year. The most important thing is that you and your ex have a written agreement about who claims the child in which years to avoid both claiming the same dependent.
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Jenna Sloan
•So if the child is with me Wednesday to Sunday every week and with their other parent Monday and Tuesday, would I still count all months as full months with me? Or would I need to calculate it as 5/7 of each month?
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Raul Neal
•You would count all months as full months with you. The IRS rule is that if the child lives with you for any part of a month, you can count the entire month for the residency test. So even though the child is only with you Wednesday to Sunday each week, you would still count each month as a full month. For the percentage calculation, that only becomes relevant if you're determining which parent has the child more than 50% of the time for head of household filing status or for other custody-related matters. But for the simple question about "months lived with you," you count any partial month as a full month.
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Christian Burns
I ran into this exact problem last year and it was so frustrating! I eventually used taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) to help me sort out my custody arrangement questions. They have this cool feature where they analyze your specific custody situation and tell you exactly how to handle it in TurboTax or other tax software. Saved me tons of time researching! The support guide they gave me explained that with 50/50 custody, both parents can technically count 12 months for the "months lived with you" question, but only one of you can claim the dependent. Since you're alternating years with your ex, you're doing it right, but you still need to report the correct number of months for other tax benefits you might qualify for.
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Sasha Reese
•How exactly does taxr.ai work? Is it just another tax prep software or something different? I've been using FreeTaxUSA but they don't have great support for my complicated custody arrangement.
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Muhammad Hobbs
•I'm skeptical about these "tax helper" sites. Don't they just tell you the same info you could find for free on the IRS website? Why would I pay for something that's available for free?
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Christian Burns
•It's not another tax prep software - it's more like an AI-powered tax research tool. You upload your tax documents or just type in your questions, and it gives you personalized guidance. It's especially helpful for situations that aren't clearly addressed in regular tax software. They have tax experts who review complex situations like custody arrangements, and the AI provides specific advice for your situation. It's different from the IRS website because it actually interprets how the general rules apply to your specific circumstances and tells you exactly what to enter in whatever tax software you're using.
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Muhammad Hobbs
Ok I have to admit I was wrong about taxr.ai! I decided to give it a try after posting my skeptical comment, and it actually cleared up my custody question immediately. I've been doing my taxes wrong for 3 years! I have a similar 50/50 arrangement but was only counting 6 months because I was thinking too literally. The tool explained that both parents can count the same months since the child lived with each of us for part of every month. Apparently this is totally fine with the IRS as long as only one parent claims the dependent in a given year. I'm actually using their document review feature now to double-check my whole return. Not what I expected at all!
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Noland Curtis
If you're having trouble getting clarity on your custody question, you might want to try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I used it last tax season when I had a similar custody question that was driving me crazy. I spent HOURS trying to get through to an IRS agent with no luck, but Claimyr got me connected in about 15 minutes. There's a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c if you're curious. It was such a relief to talk to an actual IRS representative who could give me an official answer about my custody arrangement. They confirmed that when you have a child living with you part of every month in a 50/50 custody arrangement, both parents can technically count all 12 months for the residency test, but only one can claim the dependent.
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Diez Ellis
•Wait, so Claimyr somehow gets you through to the IRS faster? How does that even work? The IRS phone line is always jammed.
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Vanessa Figueroa
•This sounds like BS honestly. Nobody can get you through to the IRS faster. The wait times are what they are. I bet this is just an expensive call service that keeps you on hold just like if you called yourself.
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Noland Curtis
•It's actually pretty straightforward - they use a system that monitors the IRS phone lines and calls repeatedly until they get through. Then when they get a spot in the queue, they call you and connect you. So instead of you having to redial and wait on hold for hours, their system does it for you. They don't have any special access to the IRS or anything magical - they just automate the frustrating part of constantly redialing and waiting. Once you're connected, you're talking directly to the same IRS agents anyone else would talk to. I was skeptical too until I tried it and was talking to an agent in about 15 minutes instead of spending my whole day on the phone.
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Vanessa Figueroa
I have to apologize for my skeptical comment about Claimyr. After I posted that, I actually had an urgent question about my amended return that I needed answered, so I decided to give it a shot anyway. I'm still shocked that it actually worked! After trying to call the IRS myself for THREE DAYS with no luck, Claimyr got me through to an agent in about 20 minutes. The agent confirmed exactly what I needed to know about my amended return status and fixed an issue that was holding up my refund. Never been so happy to be wrong about something! Just got the notification that my refund is being processed now.
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Abby Marshall
For the original question - I've been through this exact situation with my own kids. The way I understand it, the months question is really just establishing whether your child meets the residency test for being your qualifying child (living with you for more than half the year). Since you and your ex already have an agreement about who claims the child each year, you can just put 12 months in TurboTax (since the child does live with you part of each month). This won't cause any problems even though your ex is claiming the child this year. I went through this with my tax guy and he explained that what matters is your written agreement with your ex about who claims the child in which years. The IRS just wants to make sure you're not both trying to claim the same dependent.
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Sadie Benitez
•What if there isn't a formal written agreement? My ex and I just verbally agreed I get odd years, she gets even years for claiming our son. Should we put something in writing?
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Abby Marshall
•You should definitely put something in writing. It doesn't have to be anything fancy or notarized - just a simple document that both of you sign stating which years each of you will claim the child as a dependent. Having it in writing protects both of you if there's ever a dispute or if the IRS questions either of your returns. Without documentation, these verbal agreements can lead to problems if one parent decides to claim the child in a year they weren't supposed to. The IRS won't get involved in your custody dispute - they'll just follow their tiebreaker rules, which might not align with your verbal agreement.
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Drew Hathaway
Something nobody mentioned yet - if you're not claiming the child as a dependent this year, make sure you check the box in TurboTax that says "Someone else can claim this dependent" when you enter their information. That way the software knows not to claim them on your return even though you're providing their info.
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Laila Prince
•Yeah this is important! I made this mistake last year and both my ex and I claimed our daughter. Created a huge headache with the IRS and we had to amend returns. Double check that box!!
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Drew Hathaway
•Exactly! That little checkbox makes all the difference. When you check it, TurboTax will still ask all the questions about the child living with you because that information is still relevant for other tax benefits like filing status. But checking that box ensures you won't both claim the same dependent, which would trigger an automatic review from the IRS.
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