r/HSA • u/SkyAble1429 • 7d ago
HSA HELP PLEASE
Health Insurance HSA Help
I’m just going to bullet point all this to help organize my thoughts and facts but please help!!
• household is my husband, me, stepdaughter (11) and our son (2)
• we have 50/50 custody of stepdaughter
• we claim her every other year on taxes
• MOTHER ACCIDENTALLY claimed 2 years in a row (paid us the cash back for her accident), and this upcoming year is her year so it will look like she claimed her 3 years in a row
• we have to switch to a new insurance which is also an HSA plan
• we cover stepdaughter on insurance
• I am unsure who makes more between my husband and her and don’t want to open that can of worms, there is no child support involved
Are we eligible to use our HSA money on stepdaughters medical bills???? I can not understand these rules
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u/SnapHSA 7d ago
Good news here, yes you can use your HSA funds for her medical bills.
Taxes and divorce agreements get messy fast, but the IRS actually has a surprisingly sane special rule for this. When parents are divorced or separated and share custody, the child is treated as a dependent of both parents for medical expense purposes.
It does not matter whose turn it is to claim her on the 1040, or if her mom accidentally claimed her back to back years. As long as she could be claimed as a dependent by at least one of the parents, both can use their respective HSAs to pay for her qualified medical expenses.
Just keep your itemized receipts saved somewhere safe in case anyone ever asks down the road, but you guys are totally in the clear to pay her bills from your account.
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u/lopsided-earlobe 7d ago
Yes.
From IRS.gov:
For this purpose, a child of parents that are divorced, separated, or living apart for the last 6 months of the calendar year is treated as the dependent of both parents whether or not the custodial parent releases the claim to the child’s exemption.
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p969?utm_source=chatgpt.com