How long can you claim your children as dependents?

There are two standards for claiming dependents.

One is the "qualifying child" standard. A qualifying child must be under age 19 at the end of the year or under age 24 at the end of the year if he/she was a full-time student. There is no age limit if the child is permanently and totally disabled.

If the child is too old to be a "qualifying child," the child can still be a "qualifying relative." There is no age limit to be a qualifying relative, but the requirements to be a qualifying relative are much tougher to meet.

Please refer to Table 5 on page 11 of Publication 501:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf