RUMOR: The 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to children born to parents illegally in the U.S. Critics argue that automatic birthright citizenship could be changed by revoking the statute. Others say it would require a constitutional amendment because they believe the 14th Amendment requires birthright citizenship.
Answer: Each child can only be claimed as a dependent by one parent (except when married couples file taxes jointly). Typically, in the case of divorced, separated, or never married parents, it is the custodial parent who is legally able to claim a child as a dependent for tax purposes.
If you and the child's parent are divorced, you may be entitled to claim the deduction even if your divorce agreement doesn't allow you to claim the child as a dependent for the year. If both parents pay for nursery school or other child care expenses, only the custodial parent is entitled to the credit. For tax purposes, the custodial parent is the parent with whom the child lived the greater number of nights in a year. A non-custodial parent is never eligible to claim the child care credit.