How do i file seperate?

Question

In the divorce agreement it says my husband and i will be filing seperate taxes. Not filing Married but seperate. Does that mean i can file head of household then.

Answer 1

If you have no children or related dependents, you will be filing 'Single'

If you have children you may be eligible to file 'Head of Household' which will likely save you a lot in taxes compared to filing 'Single' or 'Married filing Separately'.

If the child is young and your spouse wasn't legally awarded the right to claim him/her on their return, then chances are the child is your dependent if they are still in school and live in your home at least 50% of the time. Things get tricky when one spouse pays child support because often the judge will allow them to claim the child. Other times the parents will alternate. If there are two kids the best idea is for each parent to claim one therefore they are each a head of household.

If you don't have a child you can also be a head of household if you have a dependent relative living in your home. If you live alone, unfortunately you cannot be considered a head of household, unless the dependent not living with you is your parent.

From the IRS:

"Generally, to qualify for head of household status, you must be unmarried and not entitled to file as a qualifying widow or widower with a dependent child. You must also have provided more than half the cost of maintaining as your home a household that was the main home for a qualifying person. You may also qualify for head of household status if you, though married, file a separate return, your spouse was not a member of your household during the last six months of the tax year, and you provided more than half the cost of maintaining as your home a household that was the main home for more than one half of your tax year of a child who is qualifying. "

Answer 2

Are you still married at the end of 2006? If so, your options to file are:

Married Filing Joint (sounds like not an option)
Married Filing Seperate or
Single - if a seperate maintenance decree is in place or
Head of Household if:

1) You paid over half the cost of keeping up a home for entire
year.
2) Your spouse did NOT live in the house during the last six
months of the tax year.
3) Principal residence for more than six months of the tax year
for your qualifying child or relative.

If you were not married (divorced) at the end of the tax year you can choose:

Single or
Head of Household - with the above requirements except the
spouse requirement.
Very simple to file any way you choose just need your income ie W-2, interest, dividends etc. and deductible items if you itemize.
If you are unsure you may want a tax preparer to help.
Good Luck!

Answer 3

The fact that it's in the agreement makes me think that this is for the time before you are actually divorced, but are waiting for the divorce to come through, and they're talking about a status of "married filing separately". It's not uncommon for agreements to say whether the couple will file joint or separately during that time. There would be no need to say that in the agreement for the time after you're actually divorced - you're not allowed to file together after that.

If the divorce is not yet final, you would be able to file head of household only if you meet all of the following tests, otherwise you'd file as married filing separately:

You paid more than half of the cost of keeping up your home for the year

Your spouse did not live in your home during the last 6 months of the year

Your home was the main home of your child for more than half the year

You can claim an exemption for the child - there are some exceptions to this rule, see instructions for 1040
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If you're divorced by the end of the year, then you'd file as head of household if you meet the rules (see 1040 instructions), otherwise you'd file as single. After you're divorced, the rules for filing head of household are different from those listed above.

If you're not sure of your status as of the end of the year, ask your lawyer. In some states, a legal separation qualifies you to file as single (or head of household if you qualify) rather than married filing separately.

Answer 4

Only if you have more than 50% of the financial responsibility for the children. If so then file as divorced filing separate and head of household ($ is the deciding factor) also having been there divorced fileling seperately is almost as costly as single. It is possible the you may get "non-CPA" advise from quite knowledgeable people at places such as Adult Education Centers. Good Luck.
Mike

Answer 5

After the divorce is final, there are two filing status available to you - Head of Household (if you have dependent) or Single.

You are qualified to file head of Household only if you have at least dependent. There are two types of dependent - Qualified Child (QC) or Qualified Relative (QR). The rules for QC and QR are on the top of page 28 of IRS Publication 17, http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf

It is NOT true that you have to pay for more than half of household expenses in order to qualified. If your dependent is a QC, the Support rule is that the QC can't pay for more than half of his/her own support. Someone else could have paid for the QC's expenses, and you can still claim the QC as a dependent.

Best wishes.

Answer 6

this is totally unusual to get that a lot of a shift between MFS and MFJ. be confident that you're literally not filing as both unmarried or Head of loved ones even as figuring the separate returns! you should apply Married filing one after the different AND if one in each and every of you itemizes then both one in each and every of you should itemize no matter if meaning taking $0 for a time-honored deduction.

Answer 7

Yes, you can if you have dependants. Otherwise you are really filing as Single.