By tax law, you need her consent, and by IRS law, you are joint and severally liable for the tax return when you do file jointly. You may legally file a joint return if you are physically, but not legally separated. However, by law, she must sign the return or the electronic filing form (8879).
Joint and severally means that you both are responsible as a team, and that the IRS can also hold you responsible for delinquencies and underpayments individually.
So, yes, if you wish to file a joint return you will want to contact her and make sure that all of her income is also reported so that is accurate and you can be assured that she will sign the return as well.
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