How do I plan my two nondependent children under head of household?

savalot: How do I plan my two nondependent children under head of household?
My wife passed away in 2006. Both my children are living with me. They have been working for half the year in 2008. I supply more than half the expenses in 2008. They are both under 24. Under head of household in turbo tax, I can fill in one child as my nondependent child, but there is no option for the second child. Any ideas?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Judy
The only way you could file as HofH without a dependent is if you have a child whom you could claim as a dependent except that their other parent is claiming them this year under divorced and separated parent rules – this does not apply to your situation. So unless you can claim at least one of them as a dependent, you can’t file as HofH.

To claim a child, they have to be under age 19, OR under 24 and a full time student, OR make under $ 3500 for the year. There are other rules too, but if you don’t meet one of those three, you can’t claim them as a dependent and also can’t file as HofH no matter how much of their support you provide.

The reason there’s only place to fill in one if they qualified is that one would be all you need.

Answer by chatsplas
Unless they are both fulltime students, if they are older than 18, you can’t claim either of them as dependents.
If they are younger than 18, then you file as QW, Qualifying Widower with dependent children, NOT HOH.
If they are over 18, then the nondependent child rule doesn’t apply, if they are claiming their own exemptions.
The nondependent exception for EIC is when other parent claims chld living with you, NOT for your described situation.
If they made less than $ 3500 during the year, or were fulltime students for at least 5 months of the year, then you CAN claim them as dependents.

Answer by Classy Granny
You can’t claim a child that is 24 unless they are a full time student. Same for a 19 year old. If they aren’t students they should be working and supporting themselves

Answer by stephenweinstein
1. If they are not your dependents, it does not matter whether you have one or two. If neither one is your dependent, then the only thing that matters is whether you have zero or you have more than zero. There is no reason to enter more than one because it does not matter how many you have; it only matters that you have at least one.

2. Based on the information that you provided, I am not sure whether you are correct that they are not your dependents. Check this carefully.