How to file

[Chambers 7]

Hello I need to know what to do I am married and for last 5 yrs we have filed married together and he was the one who worked I have no income stay at home mom and he left us 7 months ago no explanation no answers I mean he has mental illness and this has something to do with that however my son who has income has been taking care of us my question is can I file without my husband here like I always do or have my son file and claim all of us I don’t want to do anything wrong but we r still married he just is not present

[ThomasM125]

You may be able to file as a head of household if you lived apart from your spouse for the last six months of the year. That will result in you receiving most of the benefits of filing as married-joint, but you would need to provide over half the living expenses for the home you live in and you would need to support one or more of your children to qualify. 

Here is more on the rules for filing as head of household:

Head of Household rules

{Edited 1/19/22 at 4:46 PST]

[Opus 17]

You may have other options, but we need more details. You say that “we“ are being taken care of by your son. Is this an older son, taking care of his mother and younger siblings?

In general, you would file as married filing separately since you are still legally married.  If you provided care in your home for one or more qualifying dependents and paid more than half the cost of keeping that home, you could qualify as head of household.  However, it does not sound as though you paid more than half the cost of supporting the household in which you live.

If you lived together with your older son and his younger siblings, it is possible that your older son could claim you and your younger siblings as dependents.  Your son can claim you as a dependent if he paid more than half your support costs for the year. This might or might not be true depending on when your spouse left.  Your older son may claim his siblings as dependents as long as your older son has more taxable income than you (their mother) and as long as they lived together in the same household for more than six months of the year.

Depending on the overall situation, you could file a tax return in your own name and claim your  younger children as dependents even though you had no income. This will get you a tax credit, but this strategy will only work for 2021 because the tax credit was temporarily changed.

We would need to know more of your exact circumstances to get a better picture for your options, and you and your older son may need to do some research and make some test tax returns to see what gives you the best combination of refunds.

[Chambers 7]

Ok thank you guys so much I appreciate it. Yes I have taken care of household all expenses with help of my older son we all live in same household and I have no income my son does. 

[Chambers 7]

One more thing if I file head of household do I renter the w2 of my husbands? 

[Opus 17]

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@Chambers 7 wrote:

One more thing if I file head of household do I renter the w2 of my husbands? 

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If you file either as head of household, or as married filing separately, you only include your own income and deductions.  Your spouse must file a separate tax return for himself listing only his own income and deductions.

However, head of household does not mean the oldest family member or key person.  For tax purposes, head of household has a very specific meaning.  You must,

1. Pay more than half the cost of maintaining the household you live in, and

2. Claim at least one qualifying child dependent whom you support in that household.

You have said you had no income, but you also said you had a W-2.  You can't file as HOH unless you paid more than half the total household expenses (you, your older son, and younger child or children).  If you had no income, you didn't pay more than half unless you drained your savings.  Your older son might have paid more than half, and might be able to claim a younger sibling as a dependent, and therefore might be able to file as HOH, and you would file married filing separately.

Before you file HOH, make sure you paid more than half the cost of supporting the entire household.