Spouse and I signed SEP agreement and i moved out on 8/15th. Do I get to claim eight months of interest from the mortgage since I paid the mortgage.

[youseltorres]

Spouse and I lived together while separated and I continued to pay the mortgage.  Once we signed the separation agreement I moved out in 8/15th and paid alimony, child support, and part of pension.  Do I get to claim eight months of mortgage interest since I paid the mortgage while residing and she gets to claim the other four months since she stays in the house and responsible for the house expenses.  Virginia residence divorce will be final in 1/2017.  My daughter visits me at my residence 3 miles away. Both names on the mortgage. Thanks

[DoninGA]

You should keep your questions for the same subject on your original post here - <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3402546-spouse-and-i-signed-a-sep-agreement-on-7-27-16-she-gets-76...>

[Opus 17]

If you are still legally married, you still have the choice of filing jointly, if you both can agree and cooperate.  Then you just claim all the deductions like always.

If you don't want to file jointly, then you need to file as married filing separately, since you won't have a qualifying dependent or live apart more than half the year to qualify for head of household.  Generally when filing MFS, you claim the share of the deductions (mortgage interest, property tax, charity contributions, etc) that you actually paid.  If you paid all the mortgage for the first 8 months then you can claim 8/12th of the interest and property taxes.  However, if your spouse also worked and you combined your funds for household expenses, you will need to divide them up, since you both can't claim the same deduction.  For example, if you paid 50/50, you would claim 50% x 8/12th of the expense.  Or if you earned 75% of the total family income, you might claim 75% x 8/12th.

It's best to work this out in advance because if—between the two of you—you claim more than the total reported on the 1098 form from the lender, the IRS will start asking questions.

[TomD8]

If you're planning to file separately, and you live in a community property state, it gets a bit more complicated.  For example, if you paid your 8 months out of a joint checking account, or an account considered community property by the laws of your state, your spouse might be entitled to half of that deduction.

[youseltorres]

Thanks for the info, she didn't work and In the separation agreement we were to file for divorce on  Jan/2017.  I wanted to make sure we could still file joint even though we didn't live together the last four months.Thanks