Filing Status

[cntate14]

I am trying to determine what I am supposed to be filing for my 2019 taxes. I was separated from my spouse this year. Divorce was filed on Aug.28 but was not finalized until 2020. Can i file Head of Household or do i have to file as married filing Separately.  I pay for more than 50 % of our living expenses for myself and our children for the entire year. We lived together until the house that i have now was safe for my children to move into. So i payed for both households for more than 4 months then moved to the single household in Aug.  He essentially just came to the original house to sleep and slept in the living room.  If I can file as Head of Household what does he file as? I will be claiming all 3 kids on my taxes per our Divorce settlement. 

Also do I need to pay taxes on the money he gave me to pay medical bills for our youngest or is that like child support?

[VolvoGirl]

You can still file Joint if you want.  Joint is the best way.  You have to live apart for the last 6 months of the year to claim Head of Household.  If you didn't move until Aug then it wasn't 6 months.  Sorry.  You can only file Joint or each of you file Married Filing Separate.  

[DoninGA]

If your divorce was not finalized until 2020 then for the 2019 tax return you must either file as Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately.  You cannot file as Head of Household since you were both living together at some time in the last six months of the year.  Payment of medical expenses is not support so is not entered on your tax return as income.

See if you can agree to file as Married Filing Jointly and if receiving a tax refund consider splitting the refund 50/50 or in some way that satisfies both parties.  Filing as MFJ is almost always the best way to file when married, otherwise you are going to lose some tax credits or have other credit cut in half if you file as MFS.  And if you live in a community property state it can get complex if you file separately.

See this TurboTax support FAQ for filing jointly versus separately - https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/married/help/is-it-better-for-a-married-couple-to-file-jointly-or-...

See this TurboTax support FAQ for Head of Household when married - https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/married/help/can-a-married-person-claim-head-of-household-filing-s...

[cntate14]

Thank you