Which of these persons is entitled to claim Roberta as a dependent absent a multiple support agreement?Roberta is widowed and lives in an apartment...

In the absence of a multiple support agreement, no one can claim
Roberta as a dependent.

A person can only be claimed as your
dependent if they are A) your qualifying child or B) your qualifying relative. This means that Ed
and Jose can never claim Roberta because they are not related.

In
order to claim someone as your qualifying relative, you have to provide (in the absence of a
multiple support agreement) at least half of the person's total support for the year. Clearly, no
one is paying half of the $22,000 that constitutes Roberta's total
support.

Finally, a person cannot be a dependent if he or she
receives more than $3650 per year. Obviously, Roberta makes more than
that.

Therefore, it is clear that no one can claim Roberta as a
dependent.