child custody from deceased father for taxes

[Bob J Bruehl]

I currently have two stepchildren from my second wife. One is 9 and one is 12. My wife has been legally divorced from the children's father for about 6 years now. They had joint custody of the two children but he could claim them as his dependants even though they live with us. He would have them every other weekend throughout the year and about 1 week in the summer. He was remarried and living out of town. In August of 2000, he was killed in a car accident. My question is, can we now claim them as our dependants for the year 2000?? His new wife states that she can claim them because it happened in August which was over half the year. It does'nt seem right that she is not their natural mother and she would get to claim them. (Besides that, they were in the process of a divorce.) Would'nt the law "default" back to their natural mother? What gives???

 

[LadyBlu]

I currently have two stepchildren from my second wife. One is 9 and one is 12. My wife has been legally divorced from the children's father for about 6 years now. They had joint custody of the two children but he could claim them as his dependants even though they live with us. He would have them every other weekend throughout the year and about 1 week in the summer. He was remarried and living out of town. In August of 2000, he was killed in a car accident. My question is, can we now claim them as our dependants for the year 2000?? His new wife states that she can claim them because it happened in August which was over half the year. It does'nt seem right that she is not their natural mother and she would get to claim them. (Besides that, they were in the process of a divorce.) Would'nt the law "default" back to their natural mother? What gives???

You need to call IRS to verify this, but since the step mother had no legal financial liability to the children and they were seperated I assume, prior to the Aug date, then yes.. you can claim the children.

You will probably get notification from the IRS showing that two people claimed the children this year.. so make sure you have some type of documentation showing they were in the process of divorce at the time he was killed and that should cover you.

 

[Grandma B]

I currently have two stepchildren from my second wife. One is 9 and one is 12. My wife has been legally divorced from the children's father for about 6 years now. They had joint custody of the two children but he could claim them as his dependants even though they live with us. He would have them every other weekend throughout the year and about 1 week in the summer. He was remarried and living out of town. In August of 2000, he was killed in a car accident. My question is, can we now claim them as our dependants for the year 2000?? His new wife states that she can claim them because it happened in August which was over half the year. It does'nt seem right that she is not their natural mother and she would get to claim them. (Besides that, they were in the process of a divorce.) Would'nt the law "default" back to their natural mother? What gives???

I believe IRS laws state that a widow(er) can file a joint return with their deceased spouse for the year in which they died. This might be why she feels she can claim the children, and she might be correct.

Having filed for a divorce shouldn't affect anything. You are married until a divorce is granted and becomes final.