Special Rules for Children of Divorced or Separated Parents

There is another support test that applies to children of divorced or separated parents. The parent who has custody of the child for the greater part of the year (the custodial parent) will generally be considered as having provided over half of the child's support. That parent can claim the child as a dependent, if all of the following conditions are met:

• The child has received more than half of his or her total support from one or both parents
  
  
• The parents are divorced, legally separated, separated under a written separation agreement, or have lived apart at all times during the last six months of the calendar year
  
  
• The child was in the custody of one or both parents for more than half of the calendar year