Follow the steps below to find out if a person qualifies as your dependent, qualifies you to take the child tax credit, or both. If you have more than six dependents, include a statement showing the information required in columns (1) through (4).

An adopted child is always treated as your own child. An adopted child includes a child lawfully placed with you for legal adoption.

If you have a dependent who was placed with you for legal adoption and you do not know his or her SSN, you must get an ATIN for the dependent from the IRS. See Form W-7A for details. If the dependant is not a U.S. citizen or resident alien, apply for an ITIN instead, using Form W-7.

A child will be treated as the qualifying child or qualifying relative of his or her noncustodial parent (defined later) if all of the following conditions apply.

1. The parents are divorced, legally separated, separated under a written separation agreement, or lived apart at all times during the last 6 months of 2012 (whether or not they are or were married).
2. The child received over half of his or her support for 2012 from the parents (and the rules on Multiple support agreements, later, do not apply). Support of a child received from a parent's spouse is treated as provided by the parent.
3. The child is in custody of one or both of the parents for more than half of 2012.
4. Either of the following applies.
   1. The custodial parent signs Form 8332 or a substantially similar statement that he or she will not claim the child as a dependent for 2012, and the noncustodial parent includes a copy of the form or statement with his or her return. If the divorce decree 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. See Post-1984 and pre-2009 decree or agreement and Post-2008 decree or agreement, later.
   2. A pre-1985 decree of divorce or separate maintenance or written separation agreement between the parents provides that the noncustodial parent can claim the child as a dependent, and the noncustodial parent provides at least $600 for support of the child during 2012.

If conditions (1) through (4) apply, only the noncustodial parent can claim the child for purposes of the dependency exemption (line 6c) and the child tax credits (lines 33 and 39). However, this special rule does not apply to head of household filing status, the credit for child and dependent care expenses, the exclusion for dependent care benefits, or the earned income credit. See Pub. 501 for details.

The custodial parent is the parent with whom the child lived for the greater number of nights in 2012. The noncustodial parent is the other parent. If the child was with each parent for an equal number of nights, the custodial parent is the parent with the higher adjusted gross income. See Pub. 501 for an exception for a parent who works at night, rules for a child who is emancipated under state law, and other details.

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 other parent will not claim the child as a dependent.
3. The years for which the claim is released.

The noncustodial parent must include all of the following pages from the decree or agreement.

• Cover page (include the other parent's SSN on that page).
• The pages that include all the information identified in (1) through (3) above.
• Signature page with the other parent's signature and date of agreement.

If the divorce decree or separation agreement went into effect after 2008, the noncustodial parent cannot include pages from the decree or agreement instead of Form 8332. The custodial parent must sign either Form 8332 or a substantially similar statement the only purpose of which is to release the custodial parent's claim to an exemption for a child, and the noncustodial parent must include a copy with his or her 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 support.

A custodial parent who has revoked his or her previous release of a claim to exemption for a child must include a copy of the revocation with his or her return. For details, see Form 8332.

If you are a U.S. citizen or U.S. national and your adopted child lived with you all year as a member of your household, that child meets the requirement to be a U.S. citizen in Step 2, question 1; Step 3, question 2; and Step 4, question 2.

If your relative (including a person who lived with you all year as a member of your household) is permanently and totally disabled (defined later), certain income for services performed at a sheltered workshop may be excluded for this test. For details, see Pub. 501.

Temporary absences by you or the other person for special circumstances, such as school, vacation, business, medical care, military service, or detention in a juvenile facility, count as time the person lived with you. Also see Children of divorced or separated parents, earlier, or Kidnapped child, below.

A person is considered to have lived with you for all of 2012 if the person was born or died in 2012 and your home was this person's home for the entire time he or she was alive in 2012.

If the person meets all other requirements to be your qualifying child but was born or died in 2012, the person is considered to have lived with you for more than half of 2012 if your home was this person's home for more than half the time he or she was alive in 2012.

A foster child is any child placed with you by an authorized placement agency or by judgment, decree, or other order of any court of competent jurisdiction.

If your child is presumed by law enforcement authorities to have been kidnapped by someone who is not a family member, you may be able to take the child into account in determining your eligibility for head of household or qualifying widow(er) filing status, the dependency exemption, the child tax credit, and the earned income credit (EIC). For details, see Pub. 501 (Pub. 596 for the EIC).

If the person is married and files a joint return, you cannot claim that person as your dependent. Go to Form 1040A, line 7. However, if the person is married but does not file a joint return or files a joint return only to claim a refund of withheld income tax or estimated tax paid, you may be able to claim him or her as a dependent. (See Pub. 501 for details and examples.) Go to Step 2, question 3 (for a qualifying child) or Step 4, question 4 (for a qualifying relative).

If no one person contributed over half of the support of your relative (or a person who lived with you all year as a member of your household) but you and another person(s) provided more than half of your relative's support, special rules may apply that would treat you as having provided over half of the support. For details, see Pub. 501.

A person is permanently and totally disabled if, at any time in 2012, the person cannot engage in any substantial gainful activity because of a physical or mental condition and a doctor has determined that this condition has lasted or can be expected to last continuously for at least a year or can be expected to lead to death.

Even if a child meets the conditions to be the qualifying child of more than one person, only one person can claim the child as a qualifying child for all of the following tax benefits, unless the special rule for Children of divorced or separated parents, described earlier, applies.

1. Dependency exemption (line 6c).
2. Child tax credits (lines 33 and 39).
3. Head of household filing status (line 4).
4. Credit for child and dependent care expenses (line 29).
5. Exclusion for dependent care benefits (Form 2441, Part III).
6. Earned income credit (lines 38a and 38b).

No other person can take any of the six tax benefits listed above unless he or she has a different qualifying child. If you and any other person can claim the child as a qualifying child, the following rules apply.

• If only one of the persons is the child's parent, the child is treated as the qualifying child of the parent.
• If the parents do not file a joint return together but both parents claim the child as a qualifying child, the IRS will treat the child as the qualifying child of the parent with whom the child lived for the longer period of time in 2012. If the child lived with each parent for the same amount of time, the IRS will treat the child as the qualifying child of the parent who had the higher adjusted gross income (AGI) for 2012.
• If no parent can claim the child as a qualifying child, the child is treated as the qualifying child of the person who had the highest AGI for 2012.
• If a parent can claim the child as a qualifying child but no parent does so claim the child, the child is treated as the qualifying child of the person who had the highest AGI for 2012, but only if that person's AGI is higher than the highest AGI of any parent of the child who can claim the child.

Your daughter meets the conditions to be a qualifying child for both you and your mother. Your daughter does not meet the conditions to be a qualifying child of any other person, including her other parent. Under the rules just described, you can claim your daughter as a qualifying child for all of the six tax benefits listed earlier for which you otherwise qualify. Your mother cannot claim any of those six tax benefits unless she has a different qualifying child. However, if your mother's AGI is higher than yours and you do not claim your daughter as a qualifying child, your daughter is the qualifying child of your mother.

For more details and examples, see Pub. 501.

If you will be claiming the child as a qualifying child, go to Step 2. Otherwise, stop; you cannot claim any benefits based on this child. Go to Form 1040A, line 7.

You must enter each dependent's social security number (SSN). Be sure the name and SSN entered agree with the dependent's social security card. Otherwise, at the time we process your return, we may disallow the exemption claimed for the dependent and reduce or disallow any other tax benefits (such as the child tax credit) based on that dependent. If the name or SSN on the dependent's social security card is not correct, or you need to get an SSN for your dependent, contact the Social Security Administration. See Social Security Number (SSN), earlier. If your dependent will not have a number by the date your return is due, see What If You Cannot File on Time? earlier.

If your dependent child was born and died in 2012 and you do not have an SSN for the child, enter Died in column (2) and include a copy of the child's birth certificate, death certificate, or hospital records. The document must show the child was born alive.

A student is a child who during any part of 5 calendar months of 2012 was enrolled as a full-time student at a school, or took a full-time, on-farm training course given by a school or a state, county, or local government agency. A school includes a technical, trade, or mechanical school. It does not include an on-the-job training course, correspondence school, or school offering courses only through the Internet.