Legal Question in Family Law in Hawaii

Re: grandson 7 years old

The fact that your grandson is under your daughter�s medical coverage is entirely meaningless.

The only thing that matters is whether you meet the five �tests� spelled out in the applicable federal income tax law. If you satisfy those five tests, you can lawfully claim the federal tax dependency exemption for a �qualifying child,� regardless of what you daughter (the self-proclaimed tax expert) may have to say. The five �tests� are as follows:

1. Relationship test. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.

2. Age test. The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year, (b) under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student, or (c) any age if permanently and totally disabled.

3. Residency test. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year. (Based on number of overnights.)

4. Support test. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.

5. Special test for qualifying child of more than one person. If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child. (This means that if your daughter and grandson both live with you for more than half the year, and your daughter and you both meet the first four tests listed above, the �tie breaker� rule will give the exemption to the mother because she is the child�s parent, and the �tie breaker� rule gives priority to a parent over an nonparent, such as a grandparent.)

More info online at IRS Publication 501:

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar02.html#d0e2859