My parents are trying to claim my children

[angela]

I lived with my parents for 10 months of the year in 2015. They sued me for custody of my two children and won temporary custody in October. I had an income of $9,000 last year. I submitted my 2015 tax return, which I claimed my girls on because I had full custody of them for more than 7 months, on January 18th and was accepted. Today I received a text message from my father who found out I claimed them Stating that he wanted to clean them on his tax return in that he was going to sue me. he said that I would be hearing from his lawyer and that he is going to press fraud charges on me. Is this possible? Can they stop my rewritten from being processed after it is accepted? I thought that I had every legal right to claim my children because I had custody of them for more than 7 months and my income was more than $3,000. does anyone have any experience with this?

[Anonymous]

Actually u have every right to claim ur kids this year only tho, I have been through the exact same thing as u an I claimed all mine this year an my parents will claim them next year, an my parents were fine with that cuz it is the law bein I had them 7 months an worked an every dime was to support them, it doesn’t matter if u lived under their roof if they didn’t make a verbal agreement when u did have custody up until October than they can’t do nothing, also u said u had child support well if u also was receiving food stamps as well u can send that in to the irs showin u had them, it doesn’t matter where u were or wht they say u had CUSTODY of them bottom line an ur income along with child support was FOR THEM bottom line u are right an it takes awhile for the irs to do anything cuz my ex has claimed mine for past two years illegally an I never received child support or neither had he seen them, I had to mail my return in showing proof they lived with me an in 12 weeks after received my check from the irs, but don’t let anyone bully u on here u have every right an people shouldn’t be judging u bein u reached out for advice that’s wrong an my personal opinion if they got custody of the kids an can provide for them better than u wht do they need income tax money for really? idk ur situation personally but I’d do anything I could to try an get those kids back an use this money to improve whatever situation u are in that way none of this happens again, as I stated above I can relate to ur situation an bein a single parent is so hard to do everything on ur own, but think positive an keep pushin forward for those babies an I hope this helps ☺️

[Anonymous]

It’s not just “who had them” It is also who provided for more than half of the children’s up keep. My brother and my mom are fighting about the exact same thing. My mom has been providing for my nephew and my brother wants to claim him. There is a really fine line and you should read up on everything you can because if your parents can prove that they provided more than half of your children’s up keep and your for that matter, they can and legally have the right to claim them and you as dependents.

[Taramg5]

Craig is right in the fact that both side have some rights to claim the children. However, bottom line is that during the audit, if it comes to that they will make you show proof that you paid for you and your children to live in your parents and paid for all their meals or they WILL side with your parent and say that not only them, but also you were their dependents.

[Craig]

Based off the info you have provided, they do not have a right to claim your child. IRS publication 501 section 5 lays out the rules and test for claiming a qualifying child and/or qualifying relative. Based off these test the child qualifies as your qualifying child. More than likely the child also qualifies as a qualifying relative for your parents. However, the rules dictate that if a dependent qualifies as a qualifying child for someone then they can not be a qualifying relative for someone else. Check the publication and use it in your defense. If worst comes to worst then your parents can claim your child as well and the IRS will audit both of you and straighten it out.

[Taramg5]

I am speaking from experience on this. My two children and myself lived with my parents in their home for 8 months of 2014. When tax time came they wanted to claim the children as dependents in order to get the child tax credit. I fought and argued with them for days until I finally went to an attorney AFTER I had already filed my taxes. What he told me is that if my children and I lived with them in their household for more that 6.5 months of the year WITHOUT paying rent and meal money they could in fact claim them and call the its and report me for fraud. I hadn’t to go do an amended return that same week. Beware they DO have rights!!!

[Trask]

They can try to sue you all they want to. It doesn’t mean anything. So long as….they did NOT have legal custody at the time they lived with you, you qualify to file a return, AND the children lived with you for MORE than half the year… YOU are entitled to claim them.

However, IF you’re parents were legally given custody, if you do NOT qualify to file a return, or your children lived with you LESS than more than half of the year… you CANNOT claim them.

Hope this helps.

[Angela]

Rozilyn,

Please no below the belt shots here please. I’m sorry that I neglected to tell you that the reason that I lived with them was because I was in an abusive situation. Also, with child support I had plenty of income to be on my own, but needed the safety of their home because of the abusive situation. My parents were also given custody because of the abusive situation with my girls father, long story that you certainly are not privileged to. Thank you for your “advice”, please don’t judge.

[Anonymous]

I am a paralegal for a Business and Tax law firm.
This is a no win situation if your parents get the IRS involved.
WHAT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU? You can face severe penalties up to and including jail time.

WHAT CAN HAPPEN TO YOUR PARENTS?
They can face severe penalties up to and including jail time.

You lived with them for part of the year WITH your kids. No matter how long they have had custody, there was an adult living with them who contributed 9,000 to the home. Whether that is true or not that is how the IRS views it. So if they didn’t provide 100% of your kids financial support they can’t claim they did but neither can you.

It’s in the best interest of all parties involved to not involve the IRS and to work it out between you 3.
It could take up to 18 months to get things settled anyway so in the mean time nobody will get any money.

I hope this info helps and you all work it out.
Good luck to you and keep us posted. :)

[Rozilyn]

And regardless of whether you had your kid 7 months 10 months you still I suppose a file that you had your kids for 12 months but if your parents were the sole provider for you and your children other than that $9,000 you should have let your parents claim you and your kids and then ask them to give you a certain amount but $9,000 can’t take care of three grown-ups rent light gas and food

[Rozilyn]

But to keep him from suing you in court you can make some kind of arrangement with him to give him part of that money because if you lived with your parents with your children you didn’t pay any rent life or gas or provide any food then your parents would be entitled to claim not only your children but you as well, so I would advise you to sit down and talk to your parents because they do have custody now of your children tell the reason why you were living with your parents you could not have taken care of your kids rent light gas off of $9,000 a year

[Rozilyn]

Well since you have already claimed your children and you were accepted there’s nothing he can do at this point but take you to court and sue you he cannot stop the IRS from paying you because they are your children luckily you claim them first, but they didn’t get custody until October so legally you have the right to claim them now you saying that he provided most of the care and expenses for the year but you will get the return and I think some parts of the story is missing because why would they give your parents custody if you weren’t being a neglectful parent

[Kaylee]

If you lived with your parents for 10 months, doesn’t that mean your children also lived with your parents for 10 months? Who provided for them financially? If your parents can prove that they provided for your children and not you, then your parents get to claim them.

Their lawyers cannot put a stop on your return. However, they can claim your children and in that case, they will be audited and so will you, even if you have received your refund. If the IRS finds in favor of your parents, you will have to pay that money back.

And yes, your parents can take you to claims court for it. It will be be fraud. Fraud is criminal court. What they’re doing is a civil matter.

[angela]

TeresaV

Thank you. Yes when I filled my return I stated that I had custody of them for 10 months. I did not claim all 12 months. My concern is can he sue me and file fraud charges? My father has bullied me about taxes and who claims what since I was in college and 90% of the time I backed off and gave him what he wanted. My parents have been escalatingly mentally, emotionally and financially abusive to me over the 3 years and this is the first time I put my foot down. I was hoping it would be accepted and approved before he found out but I made the mistake of telling my sister about this. It has been accepted but not approved yet. Can his lawyer put a stop on my return? Can they file fraud charges? I’m meeting with a lawyer next week, but I feel really bullied over this.

[Anonymous]

If you had them for over half the year it is your right to claim them. You have to have provided more than half their care financially. Where you had them seven months and he had them five you should be able to claim them unless he has a court order saying otherwise. Just make sure you put they lived with you seven months. He can file and claim them for five but won’t get much if anything.

[Author]

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