I have a client with two children who divorced in December 2019. The divorce decree says that the mother is to claim dependency exemption for one child and the father should claim dependency exemption for the other. However, it also states that the mother is entitled to claim all credits related to both children. This is a shared custody agreement, where the kids are supposed to split time 50/50 between the parents.
The question that I have is that the mother is eligible for EIC. The attorney is trying to tell me that it is possible for both the mother and father to claim HOH and the mother to still claim both kids for EIC purposes. Right now I disagree. Even if they had worked it out so that each parent were able to argue that one of the children spent more than half of the year with them and both were able to claim HOH status. I don't think it's possible for the mother to claim EIC on the child that is being used to establish the father's HOH filing status.
Am I wrong with this? Does the fact that they were married and living together for more than half of 2019 make this work for 2019 only?
Your insight is appreciated.