How do I determine how many months someone lived with me?

Count the number of months the person lived in your home with you during 2012, including temporary absences for circumstances such as hospital stays, school, vacation, etc.

If this person lived with you for part of a month, you can usually count that part as a full month, except for the span of time between 6 and 7 months. Keep it at 6 months if the total number of days this person lived with you was less than 183. In most years, half the year would be 183 days or more. In leap years, it would be 184 days or more. So, before you round up to 7, make sure this person lived with you at least that number of days. This is important because it affects your ability to get certain credits, which could save you money.