Can dad claim head of household but not claim child

[giogis245]

I want to run this by you guys and not just on IRS website.  Can dad can claim head of household and put the child's name and SSN because child lives with him and girlfriend claim the child for EIC and child tax purposes??

Thank you. 

[Tax Prep by Deb]

Not if they all live together under the same roof.  I do have situations where client's are divorced or separated and the legal papers give the exemption claim to the father, but the mother is considered the custodial parent.  In that case the father can take the exemption and child tax credit, and the mother is able to claim head of household and claim the EIC.  But the situation described above sounds like they all live together so the credits are all or none.

[Pacun]

Only separated parents when the custodial parent release the dependent to the other parent can one be HH without the child being his/her dependent. Deb is correct.