You can never claim your husband as a dependent. You can file a joint tax return with your husband and claim a personal exemption for your husband as well as for yourself. A personal exemption has the same value as claiming a dependent.

If you file jointly you can include an "injured spouse" claim (Form 8379) with your tax return. That will prevent your share of the refund from being taken to pay your husband's past-due child support. His share of the refund will, of course, be taken. Form 8379 gives the IRS the information needed to calculate how much of the refund is his and how much is yours. You can prepare Form 8379 with TurboTax.

You cannot file as head of household if you and your husband lived in the same home at any time in the last 6 months of the year. To file as head of household you also have to have a qualifying person who lived in your home for more than half the year. Your husband cannot be the qualifying person. It is usually a child. Head of household filing status is intended primarily for a single person with a child, not for someone who is married. If you are married and lived together at any time in the last 6 months of the year, your choices for filing status are married filing jointly or married filing separately.