Employee

Question

Seperated but not divorced

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
May 31, 2019
7 replies
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I am seperated (not legally) and have filed for divorce but it will not be final until march.. He has been gone for months and I do not have any way to get his info... ssn, income, etc
How should I file? married filing seperated, head of household, single??

TurboTax Deluxe Online

D

donnamarieriley

Employee

been seperated 1year half never paid me anything, does this help me in any way

M

moni_77084

Employee

So why do I have to wait for the form 8958 if my wife and I are together but she gad not filed a return in 3 years.

P

pournima-uhs

Employee

I am separated from my spouse since 1 year , we have filed a mutual divorce application and result will get after 6 months, now i want to apply for Passposrt.. so what should be my status ? (Single / Separated)

B

bwa

Employee

If you are not divorced, your choices are married filing jointly, married filing separately, or if you qualify, Head of Household. You cannot file as a single person unless you meet the strict definition of "legally separated" under a court decree, and your state recognizes legal separation..

Generally, you have to be single or considered unmarried to file as Head of Household, although an exception exists. You are considered unmarried if you lived apart from your spouse for the entire last 1/2 of the year. The requirements for HOH are that you:

Are single or considered unmarried (you are considered unmarried if you are married but lived apart from your spouse for the last half of the year),
You provide more than 1/2 of the cost of maintaining a residence for you and a qualifying relative.
You have a qualifying relative (such as your child) living with you for more than 1/2 of the year . If the child is your qualifying child, you do not need to claim them as a dependent.

M

moni_77084

Employee

Why didn't turbo tax correct me if I should have filled HOH if my wife and I are living together. I thought turbo tax would if suggest that I fill HOH when I chose married but filing separately

VolvoGirl

Employee

You can file as Joint if you both agree or Married filing Separate, but if you don't have his info you will have to mail your return. Or you can file Head of Household if you qualify.

You may be able to file as head of household if you meet all the following 3 requirements (A-C). Copied from Pub 501.

A. To claim head of household you have to be unmarried or to be considered unmarried. You are considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year if you meet all the following tests:

1. You file a separate return.

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

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

4. Your home was the main home of your child, stepchild, or foster child for more than half the year.

5. You must be able to claim an exemption for the child. However you can meet this test if you cannot claim the exemption only because the noncustodial parent can claim the child.

B. You paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year.

C. A "qualifying person" lived with you in the home for more than half the year (except for temporary absences, such as school). However if the "qualifying person" is your dependent parent, he or she does not have to live with you.

See pub 501 page 9 for who qualifies you for HOH

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch02.html#en_US_2011_publink1000170821

or the pdf……

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

M

moni_77084

Employee

Still do not understand the answer

B

bwa

Employee

Seperated can I file single or married

seperated but not divorced

If you meet the strict definition of "legally separated", you are considered single (or you may qualify for Head of Household if you have a dependent.)

An individual who is legally separated from his spouse under a decree of divorce or of separate maintenance is not considered married (i.e., that would be single.) Mere separation is insufficient - there must be an actual Court decree. Also some states recognize a legal separation and other states do not, and among the different states, the term means different things. Those states that do not recognize legal separations are:

    Delaware
    Florida
    Georgia
    Maryland
    Mississippi
    New Jersey (except in civil union cases)
    Pennsylvania and
    Texas.

If you have any doubt as to your status in your state, check with a local attorney who specializes in family law (or handled your separation.)

G

Grae2121

Employee

What if you don't have children and have not been living with your spouse for the last 2 years? No legal separation. IM in FL and he is in TX. Can I file single?