Myself and my underage son live separately from my new wife. My intention is to file as Head of Household for myself and my son. How should she file?

[cynorio]

I pay all the bills for my house, and she pays all the bills for her house. She has no dependents. At no point during the year have we lived together. If I'm filing Head of Household, should she file Single, Married: filing separately, or something else?

[MichaelDC · Accepted solution]

Your wife would have to file Married Filing Separately, unless she herself also qualifies (which she doesn't seem to) as unmarried for tax purposes. If you were  legally married as of December 31, you are considered unmarried (and therefore eligible for Head of Household) if all 5 of these conditions apply:

1.       You won't be filing jointly with your spouse; and

2.       Your spouse didn't live in your home after June (temporary absences due to illness, school, vacation, business, or military service don't count); and

3.       Your home was your child's, stepchild's, or foster child's main home for more than half the year; and

4.       You paid more than half the costs of keeping up your home during the tax year; and

5.       You meet the qualifications to claim the child as your dependent, even if the other (noncustodial) parent is actually claiming the child as a dependent on their return.  

You can also be "considered unmarried" for Head of Household if your spouse was a nonresident alien at any time during the tax year and you're not treating them as a resident alien.

Married filers who are "considered unmarried" cannot file with Head of Household status if their dependent is somebody other than a child, for example, a parent.