Grandson and his girlfriend had a baby.

They are not married.

She made ~ $6500

They live (literally) in Mom's basement.

He made significantly more, but I don't know specifically how much.

I'm guessing the best approach would be for him to file head of household and claim the baby, and her to file separately?

Can Mom also file head of household (not claiming any of them as dependents)? Two "families" living in the same building?

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
Grandson and his girlfriend had a baby.

They are not married.

She made ~ $6500

They live (literally) in Mom's basement.

He made significantly more, but I don't know specifically how much.

I'm guessing the best approach would be for him to file head of household and claim the baby, and her to file separately?

Can Mom also file head of household (not claiming any of them as dependents)? Two "families" living in the same building?

Not simple. First need to figure out who is whose dependents. That is determined based on relationships and the amount of support that is being provided to them or by them. Once you figure out who is dependent (where the support is coming from and how much) then you can move on to filing statuses.

While the exemption for dependents is out the window with the new tax law, dependency still matters for filing status and the many credits that are out there.

Dependency: https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/w...claim-as-a-dependent

Filing Status: https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/what-is-my-filing-status

Okay, thanks. I imagine that a good tax program will point to all the appropriate worksheets.

And, be aware the "support" includes much more than cash. Value of housing, food, electric and gas, trash, etc, tuition, ... provided to the occupant/recipient by the owner/provider.

They may both be Mom's dependents, depending on income and the value of housing in that area. Turbotax has a simple questionnaire that will help them decide the best way to file.