Who can claim college student as dependent after divorce - questions about residence test

The rules for claiming a qualifying child as a dependent when parents are divorced can be tricky! For a college student living in university housing, the IRS considers the dorm a "temporary absence" from their main home. The key question is: which parent's home is considered your daughter's main home? For divorced parents, the child is generally treated as living with the parent they spent the most nights with during the year. But there's an important exception for college students - the months they're away at school can count as living with the parent who would have had custody if they weren't at school. In your case, since you're providing 100% support from May through December, that's a significant factor. However, support alone doesn't determine dependency status. You also need to meet other tests including the residency test. Since your ex-wife had your daughter for 4 months and you had her for 3 months (with 5 months at school), you'll need to determine which parent she would have lived with during those school months. If there's no formal custody arrangement for those months, it can get complicated.

After going through a similar situation with my son last year, I found taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) incredibly helpful for sorting out dependent claims after divorce. When my ex and I were fighting over who could claim our college student, I was getting different answers from various sources. I uploaded our divorce decree and some financial documents to taxr.ai, and it analyzed everything according to current IRS rules. It clearly showed that even though our decree said my ex could claim our son, because I was providing over half his support and he lived with me during breaks, I was actually entitled to claim him. The site walks you through all the residency and support tests for claiming dependents with specific questions about college students. It also explains how the special rule for children of divorced parents might apply in your situation.

I just wanted to follow up - I actually tried taxr.ai after posting my question here and WOW what a difference. I've been pulling my hair out trying to figure this out for weeks. The tool asked me specific questions about my daughter's living situation that no one else had mentioned (like where her driver's license is registered and where her belongings are stored during school breaks). It turns out those details matter a lot! In my case, since my daughter keeps most of her stuff at my house and comes here more often during breaks, plus I'm providing all the financial support, the analysis showed I can claim her. It even generated a document explaining exactly why I qualify under the special rule for children of divorced parents that I can keep with my tax records. Definitely worth checking out if you're in a complicated dependent situation like this.

I had the exact same issue last year with my son. After calling the IRS for weeks with no luck (always on hold forever then disconnected), I found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and it was a game changer. They got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes when I'd been trying for weeks on my own. The IRS agent explained that for college students, you have to look at where they lived when NOT at school, and whoever provided more than half the total yearly support. In my case, even though my ex had our son more nights during the year, I provided over 80% of his financial support including tuition, so I was entitled to claim him. If you're confused, seriously just call the IRS directly using Claimyr (there's a quick demo video here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c). Having an actual IRS representative clarify the rules specifically for your situation is way better than guessing or arguing with your ex.

I need to eat my words and apologize to profile 19. After spending FOUR HOURS on hold with the IRS yesterday only to get disconnected, I was desperate enough to try Claimyr. It actually worked exactly as described. I put in my info, and about 30 minutes later I got a call connecting me to an IRS representative. I explained my situation (very similar to yours - college student, divorce, support questions), and the agent walked me through the tiebreaker rules. In my case, since I provide more than half the support for my daughter but she lived more with her mother when not at school, we had to use the tiebreaker rules. The agent explained that the parent who had the child for more nights during non-school time would generally get to claim her, unless we had a Form 8332 signed. Saved me so much headache trying to interpret the IRS publications myself.

Just to add another perspective - my ex and I alternate years claiming our college student. Even years for me, odd years for him. We put this in writing and signed it, and it's worked great for us regardless of where our son actually stays during breaks. Might be worth discussing with your ex if you can do something similar to avoid yearly conflicts.

Something nobody's mentioned yet - don't forget about education credits! Whoever claims your daughter as a dependent is the only one who can claim education credits like the American Opportunity Credit (worth up to $2,500) or the Lifetime Learning Credit. These can be really valuable, so factor that into your decision if you and your ex are able to work together on this.

One important detail that could help clarify your situation - you mentioned your daughter "splits her time between our homes based on her preference" during breaks. You should keep detailed records of exactly which nights she stays where during school breaks this year, as the IRS counts actual nights spent, not just general time. Also, since you're providing 100% financial support from May forward, make sure you're documenting everything - tuition payments, housing costs, meal plans, books, personal expenses, etc. The IRS support test requires you to provide more than half of the child's total support for the entire year, not just part of it. Given that your ex provided support for the first 4 months and you're covering May-December, you'll need to calculate the actual dollar amounts to see who provided more than half the total yearly support. This calculation, combined with the residency determination, will determine who can rightfully claim her as a dependent.