The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.

The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year, (b) under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student, or (c) any age if permanently and totally disabled.

The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year.²

The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.

If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child.

The person cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer.

The person either (a) must be related to you in one of the ways listed under Relatives who do not have to live with you, or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household² (and your relationship must not violate local law).

The person's gross income for the year must be less than $3,500.³

You must provide more than half of the person's total support for the year.⁴