I am legally separated with a legally executed separation agreement in place. According to the separation agreement, I can claim my child every other year as a dependent on my return. Last year I was not able to claim my child and filed single. This year, I can claim my child and the child lived for the full year with me and I pay more than half the household expenses. Do I qualify to file as head of household? In addition, my soon to be ex is filling filing using the standard deduction for both his federal and state return. Do I have to also use the standard deduction for both my federal and state return? It is more advantageous for me to use the standard for federal and itemized for state.
Thank you in advance for any help with these questions!
