I am a divorced mother with 2 children who's annual income is $36,000. My ex and I share custody of the children 50/50, however, I have had them slighlty more than 50% of the time this past year. My ex makes considerabley more money than I do and therefore will claim the children as dependents on his tax return for purposes of the child tax credit. He however, would not qualify for the earned income credit as would be the case for me. My question is, can I list the children as dependents for the purpose of filing for head of household for the earned income credit without asking for the child tax credit which my ex would claim for himself or do I have to file as single with no dependents?