Do I have to choose a married filing status if I filed a joint bankruptcy?

[Bella2021]

Last year in 2019 I filed a joint bankruptcy as married per my lawyers instructions. My significant other and I had lived together for 4 years. I am filing my taxes, and I am wondering if I need to file my taxes as married now since we filed bankruptcy jointly, or if I can still file as single. We would file as married filing separately if we needed to file as married. Please advise.

[DoninGA]

If you are legally married and living together then you can only file a US tax return as either Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately.

If you are not legally married then you can only file your tax return as Single.

You can file as Head of Household if you are single and eligible - https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/family/help/do-i-qualify-for-head-of-household/01/25539

You may be able to file as Head of Household if you are married and eligible - https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/married/help/can-a-married-person-claim-head-of-household-filing-s...

[Bella2021]

We live in Colorado, and my lawyer told us to file a bankruptcy together since common law applies. We never got married and filed for a marriage certificate but Colorado has common law marriage. So my question is, would I have to file as married since I filed a joint bankruptcy and my lawyer treated us as married due to common law in Colorado?

[DoninGA · Accepted solution]

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@Bella2021 wrote:

We live in Colorado, and my lawyer told us to file a bankruptcy together since common law applies. We never got married and filed for a marriage certificate but Colorado has common law marriage. So my question is, would I have to file as married since I filed a joint bankruptcy and my lawyer treated us as married due to common law in Colorado?

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If you are presenting yourselves as married in the common law state of Colorado then you file your federal and state tax returns as Married.

[Carl]

We live in Colorado, and my lawyer told us

If you are questioning what a legal professional is telling you, this public user-to-user forum is not the best place. It would be significantly wiser to present your concerns to a CPA or other tax professional in your state, since it's the filing status of a tax return you are questioning.

[fanfare]

Are the two of you married or not ?

If you file Single now you are denying the marital status of Married that you filed with the IRS for 2018.

This could cause problems on your 2018 tax return if the IRS decides to make an issue of it.

[Carl]

A major thing to consider too, is that if they are "considered married", then a bankruptcy filing will have a negative impact on the credit of both parties that will be with them for quite a number of years.