topic I live in Washington state and am legally separated. Can I still file as married filing jointly? in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

I live in Washington state and am legally separated. Can I still file as married filing jointly?

geolitts23 — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 06:29:34 GMT

Re: I live in Washington state and am legally separated. Can I still file as married filing jointly?

xmasbaby0 — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 23:39:01 GMT

Does your spouse want to file a joint return with you?

Re: I live in Washington state and am legally separated. Can I still file as married filing jointly?

xmasbaby0 — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 23:41:12 GMT

What Happens If I Get Legally Separated and Live in a Community Property State?

The laws of a state impact the manner in which property is divided during a divorce. Most states follow a set of laws called equitable distribution. A minority of states, however, distribute marital property using guidelines known as community property laws.

In community property states, any property that a couple acquires during the marriage is said to be owned equally by each spouse.

This means that even if a couple is separated, any property that can be considered community property will continue to partially belong to each spouse until a divorce is finalized.

Re: I live in Washington state and am legally separated. Can I still file as married filing jointly?

Opus 17 — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 23:41:53 GMT

The type of legal separation that allows you to be considered unmarried and file as single is very narrow, and I have never seen a tax court case where someone actually qualified. See a local attorney if you want to review your personal situation.

As a result, your options are generally going to be married filing jointly, married filing separately, or head of household if you meet the qualifications. You can always file jointly if you are married and your spouse agrees to file jointly.

Re: I live in Washington state and am legally separated. Can I still file as married filing jointly?

geolitts23 — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 23:44:12 GMT

Yes she does. We both desire to file jointly.

Re: I live in Washington state and am legally separated. Can I still file as married filing jointly?

DaveF1006 — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 22:32:59 GMT

Yes, you may file Married Filing jointly because it is permitted under Washington State law.

Washington State law

[Edited 01/22/24|2:32 pm PST]

@geolitts23

Re: I live in Washington state and am legally separated. Can I still file as married filing jointly?

geolitts23 — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 01:39:47 GMT

Thanks DaveF. In addition to your findings I found contrary advice on Intuit’s own site:

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/marriage/tax-tips-for-separated-couples/L6H4vr1nd

“Since the IRS honors the divorce laws of the states, where you live affects your options as well. In Texas, for example, you remain married from a tax perspective until your divorce is final, even though you're legally separated.”

Further, I confirmed this for Washington state:

What is a legal separation?
This type of court case can give you everything a divorce does, except for ending the marriage. You are still legally married.

https://www.washingtonlawhelp.org/files/C9D2EA3F-0350-D9AF-ACAE-BF37E9BC9FFA/attachments/7EC4C22A-2D47-4CF1-98FE-C2689FCCA050/3253en_legal-separation-general-info.pdf

Wish me luck filing jointly. An IRS audit can’t be worse than watching our institutions dissolve in real time. —G

Re: I live in Washington state and am legally separated. Can I still file as married filing jointly?

Opus 17 — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 15:06:14 GMT

@DaveF1006 wrote:

No. According to this IRS link, if you are legally separated at the end of the year, you must file single or head of Household. Please read the section titled If you are legally separated or divorced at the end of the year.

The type of legal separation that qualifies a person to file as single is very rare. For example, there is no legal separation in New York or New Jersey that qualifies (as I know from personal experience). You have to very carefully check your state law and relevant tax court cases.

Re: I live in Washington state and am legally separated. Can I still file as married filing jointly?

TomD8 — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 15:41:03 GMT

Per IRS Publication 501, you must be "considered married" in order to file a joint return. Here's how the IRS defines that:

Considered married.

You are considered married for the whole year if, on the last day of your tax year, you and your spouse meet any one of the following tests.

You are married and living together.
You are living together in a common law marriage recognized in the state where you now live or in the state where the common law marriage began.
You are married and living apart but not legally separated under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance.
You are separated under an interlocutory (not final) decree of divorce.

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

Re: I live in Washington state and am legally separated. Can I still file as married filing jointly?

Opus 17 — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 15:56:56 GMT

@TomD8 wrote:

Per IRS Publication 501, you must be "considered married" in order to file a joint return. Here's how the IRS defines that:

Right, but the devil is in the details.

For 3, You are married and living apart but not legally separated under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance.

The tax courts have ruled on this several times and have never ruled (that I found) that someone who has a legal separation actually qualifies as "legally separated under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance." For example, if you have a temporary support order that will be finalized when the divorce is final, that temporary order is not a final decree of separate maintenance, and does not qualify the spouses to be legally unmarried. Or, if under state law you are separated but could reconcile (that is, reconciliation is legal and possible, no matter how unlikely) then the separation is not final and you are not unmarried for purposes of income taxes (other than the special rules for HOH).

Likewise, 4. "You are separated under an interlocutory (not final) decree of divorce" no longer exists in the US as a practical matter. A legal separation agreement, even if supervised by the courts, is not an interlocutory decree of divorce.

As I read the court cases, it seems there was a type of marital separation that was more common before WWII, where the spouses would not be "divorced" (because divorce was seen as immoral and was against many people's religious beliefs) but where there was a need for a legally enforced separation that was permanent and final. (In fact, this type of separation is still on the books in NY but no one uses it any more, because it costs the same as a divorce, has the same trauma and other costs, but leaves the parties without the ability to remarry.)

The Tax court cases that deal with the idea that people can be "considered unmarried" prior to a final divorce focus a lot on the idea of finality. If a support order is not final, or the separation is not final under state law, then the parties are not considered unmarried.

This is, of course, my own perspective, as someone who paid many thousands of dollars extra during my separation, and did a lot of research on the meaning of "considered unmarried" and the relevant court cases. But I am not a lawyer, and I suggest that if anyone who is legally separated wants to file as single instead of MFS, they consult a tax attorney in their state. And to the original OP, because of what the tax court cases have said about separation, I believe they are allowed to file MFJ as long as they both agree.