Hi @dragon2000 - thanks for chatting with us today and sorry to hear about your recent challenges.
Since you have been living apart for at least the last six months of the year, you might qualify to file using the Head of Household status even though your divorce is not finalized yet. To qualify for Head of Household, you would've had to provide more than half the cost of keeping up a home for at least one of the children for the year.
As far as claiming the children - the IRS default position is that whoever is the "custodial" parent (meaning, the parent with whom the children lived more than half the nights of the year) is permitted to claim the children. So really, this boils down to where the children have primarily been living since the separation. If they are living with you most or all of the time, generally you would have the right to claim them. In that case, you could agree to let the other parent claim one or more children, but absent such an agreement the custodial parent would be entitled to claim the children.
I hope this information was helpful. Please post a follow up if you have any additional questions!
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