@SweetieJean
This is incredibly complicated. The problem is that “legal separation“ does not always satisfy the IRS requirement to be considered unmarried, no matter what the video says. I know, because if I could have filed as single when my wife kicked me out, I would have saved several thousand dollars.
@traceynkennedy
The IRS says that you are “considered unmarried“ if you are legally separated under a decree of separate maintenance that makes you legally unmarried under state law. If you are “considered unmarried”, then you would file as single, or you would file as head of household if you provided care in your home for a qualifying person, usually your child dependent.
The problem is that I have never seen a state law that the IRS would accept to be considered unmarried. I have only reviewed tax court cases for New York and New Jersey, but in those states, a legal separation is not considered unmarried. The reasoning was complex and I may not remember it all correctly, but part of the reasoning is that in those states, even if you have a legal separation approved by the courts, you can reconcile and get back together without legal consequence. New York actually does have a different kind of legal separation still on their law books as a holdover from the distant past that would meet the IRS definition, but no one uses it in modern times.
I would love to know if there are any states where a legal separation is considered unmarried by the IRS. You would have to ask a tax attorney in your state whether your form of legal separation counts.
But the answer is not a simple yes or no. If your legal separation does not count as unmarried, then you would file “married filing separately“ unless you were separated for at least six months and you provided care in your home for a qualifying person so you could file as head of household. Your spouse would probably file “married filing separately,“ since they would not have a qualifying person for HOH.
If your legal separation does count as unmarried under the laws of your state, you could file single or HOH.
