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.
The parent with physical custody will claim the child on his or her taxes unless the court has said otherwise. Often, with joint custody arrangements, the court will order that the parents take turns claiming the child, with one parent claiming the child one year, the other parent the next year. Sometimes if there is more than one child, the court will divide the children between the parents for deduction purposes.