Page 14

Parent works at night. If, due to a parent's nighttime work schedule, a child lives for a greater number of days, but not nights, with the parent who works at night, that parent is treated as the custodial parent. On a school day, the child is treated as living at the primary resi- dence registered with the school. Example 1—child lived with one parent for a greater number of nights. You and your child’s other parent are divorced. In 2022, your child lived with you 210 nights and with the other parent 155 nights. You are the custodial parent. Example 2—child is away at camp. In 2022, your child lives with each parent for alter- nate weeks. In the summer, your child spends 6 weeks at summer camp. During those 6 weeks, your child is treated as living with you for 3 weeks and with your child’s other parent, your ex-spouse, for 3 weeks because this is how long the child would have lived with each parent if the child had not attended summer camp. Example 3—child lived same number of nights with each parent. Your child lived with you 180 nights during the year and lived the same number of nights with the child’s other pa- rent, your ex-spouse. Your AGI is $40,000. Your ex-spouse's AGI is $25,000. You are treated as your child's custodial parent because you have the higher AGI. Example 4—child is at parent’s home but with other parent. Your child normally lives with you during the week and with the child’s other parent, your ex-spouse, every other weekend. You become ill and are hospi- talized. The other parent lives in your home with your child for 10 consecutive days while you are in the hospital. Your child is treated as living with you during this 10-day period because your child was living in your home. Example 5—child emancipated in May. Your child turned 18 in May 2022 and became emancipated under the law of the state where your child lives. As a result, your child isn't con- sidered in the custody of either parent for more than half of the year. The special rule for chil- dren of divorced or separated parents doesn't apply. Example 6—child emancipated in Au- gust. Your child lives with you from January 1, 2022, until May 31, 2022, and lives with the child’s other parent, your ex-spouse, from June 1, 2022, through the end of the year. Your child turns 18 and is emancipated under state law on August 1, 2022. Because your child is treated as not living with either parent beginning on Au- gust 1, your child is treated as living with you the greater number of nights in 2022. You are the custodial parent. Written declaration. The custodial parent must use either Form 8332 or a similar state- ment (containing the same information required by the form) to make the written declaration to release a claim to an exemption for a child to the noncustodial parent. Although the exemp- tion amount is zero for tax year 2022, this re- lease allows the noncustodial parent to claim the child tax credit, credit for other dependents, or additional child tax credit, if applicable, for the child. The noncustodial parent must attach a copy of the form or statement to their tax re- turn. The release can be for 1 year, for a number of specified years (for example, alternate years), or for all future years, as specified in the declaration. Post-1984 and pre-2009 divorce decree or separation agreement. If the divorce de- cree or separation agreement went into effect after 1984 and before 2009, the noncustodial parent may be able to attach certain pages from the decree or agreement instead of Form 8332. The decree or agreement must state all three of the following. 1. The noncustodial parent can claim the child as a dependent without regard to any condition, such as payment of support. 2. The custodial parent won't claim the child as a dependent for the year. 3. The years for which the noncustodial pa- rent, rather than the custodial parent, can claim the child as a dependent. The noncustodial parent must attach all of the following pages of the decree or agreement to their tax return. • The cover page (write the other parent's SSN on this page). • The pages that include all of the informa- tion identified in items (1) through (3) above. • The signature page with the other parent's signature and the date of the agreement. Post-2008 divorce decree or separation agreement. The noncustodial parent can't at- tach pages from the decree or agreement in- stead of Form 8332 if the decree or agreement went into effect after 2008. The custodial parent must sign either Form 8332 or a similar state- ment whose only purpose is to release the cus- todial parent's claim to an exemption, and the noncustodial parent must attach a copy to their return. The form or statement must release the custodial parent's claim to the child without any conditions. For example, the release must not depend on the noncustodial parent paying sup- port. The noncustodial parent must attach the required information even if it was filed with a return in an earlier year. Revocation of release of claim to an ex- emption. The custodial parent can revoke a release of claim to an exemption. For the revo- cation to be effective for 2022, the custodial pa- rent must have given (or made reasonable ef- forts to give) written notice of the revocation to the noncustodial parent in 2021 or earlier. The custodial parent can use Part III of Form 8332 for this purpose and must attach a copy of the revocation to their return for each tax year the custodial parent claims the child as a depend- ent as a result of the revocation. Remarried parent. If you remarry, the sup- port provided by your new spouse is treated as provided by you. Parents who never married. This rule for divorced or separated parents also applies to CAUTION ! parents who never married and lived apart at all times during the last 6 months of the year. Support Test (To Be a Qualifying Child) To meet this test, the child can't have provided more than half of the child’s own support for the year. This test is different from the support test to be a qualifying relative, which is described later. However, to see what is or isn't support, see Support Test (To Be a Qualifying Relative), later. If you aren't sure whether a child provided more than half of their own support, you may find Worksheet 2 helpful. Example. You provided $4,000 toward your 16-year-old child's support for the year and the child provided $6,000. Your child provided more than half their own support. This child isn't your qualifying child. Foster care payments and expenses. Pay- ments you receive for the support of a foster child from a child placement agency are consid- ered support provided by the agency. Similarly, payments you receive for the support of a foster child from a state or county are considered sup- port provided by the state or county. If you aren't in the trade or business of pro- viding foster care and your unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses in caring for a foster child were mainly to benefit an organization qualified to receive deductible charitable contri- butions, the expenses are deductible as chari- table contributions but aren't considered sup- port you provided. For more information about the deduction for charitable contributions, see Pub. 526. If your unreimbursed expenses aren't deductible as charitable contributions, they may qualify as support you provided. If you are in the trade or business of provid- ing foster care, your unreimbursed expenses aren't considered support provided by you. Example 1. L, a foster child, lived with mar- ried couple, A and B Smith, for the last 3 months of the year. The Smiths cared for L be- cause they wanted to adopt L (although L had not been placed with them for adoption). They didn't care for L as a trade or business or to benefit the agency that placed L in their home. The Smiths' unreimbursed expenses aren't de- ductible as charitable contributions but are con- sidered support they provided for L. Example 2. You provided $3,000 toward your 10-year-old foster child's support for the year. The state government provided $4,000, which is considered support provided by the state, not by the child. See Support provided by the state (welfare, food benefits, housing, etc.), later. Your foster child didn't provide more than half of their own support for the year. Scholarships. A scholarship received by a child who is a student isn't taken into account in determining whether the child provided more than half of their own support. TANF and other governmental payments. Under proposed Treasury regulations, if you Page 14 Publication 501 (2022)