Divorce and multiple states

[mw19922025]

I was wondering if anyone could help with this issue. I am currently in the process of a divorce (not final) and my spouse and I currently live in different states. I live in DC and he lives in MN. At the beginning of 2024, I lived in MD and he still lived in MN. In July 2024, we both moved to DC. In September 2024, we decided to separate and he moved back to MN while I stayed in DC. 

I’m planning to file MFJ, because it’s better economically. I think I have DC and MD figured out, but am confused on the MN taxes. 

I intend to stay in DC permanently and I believe my spouse intends to stay in MN permanently. MN requires your state return match your federal return, so our MN return would need to be MFJ. 

I’m getting tripped up on the residency status for MN. I don’t believe I’m domiciled in MN nor do I meet the 183 day rule. I feel my husband is likely domiciled in MN and he also meets the 183 day rule. So, I believe my husband would be a full-year MN resident while I would be a MN nonresident. 

I believe that for MN, we would need to file a joint M1 and a schedule M1NR. On the M1NR, I could remove my income from the MN taxable income, since I am a nonresident. Can you file a M1NR if one spouse is a full-year resident and the other spouse is a nonresident? Or does this option only work if both spouses are either nonresidents or part-year residents?

Thanks for any help on this confusing situation. 

[MaryK4]

Yes, you will file a Minnesota Part Year return.  You will be able to allocate the Minnesota income, which would include the nonresident income for both of you (his nonresident income will be for the time he did not live in Minnesota).  

[mw19922025]

Thank you for your response and that does make sense to me. A technical issue I’m seeing is that the M1NR requires you to list the dates both you and your spouse were residents of MN. However, there isn’t an option to include multiple time periods if there were multiple dates of nonresidence. My spouse was a MN resident from 1/1/24-7/15/24, a DC resident from 7/15/24-9/12/24, and then again a MN resident from 9/12/24-12/31/24. 

Ideally, I would like to be able to show those specific dates on the form, but not sure if I can or if it matters. I feel like the most important thing is allocating the correct amount of income. 

I’ve included a screenshot of the relevant portion of the M1NR so you can see what I’m referencing.