Getting What Is Rightfully Yours

Things You Should Know About Filing Taxes When Going Through A Divorce

22 March 2016

Estelle Mathieu

Getting divorced is not something that happens overnight. Instead, it can take months or years from start to finish. If you are in the middle of a divorce and tax time comes around, you may have questions relating to how you should file your taxes. There are usually several options you could choose from, and it is important to talk to your attorney and a tax accountant before making this decision. Here are several things you should know as you try to determine the best way to file your taxes.

You Cannot File Jointly If The Divorce Was Final On The Last Day Of The Year

Income taxes must be filed by April 15th, and they are based on the income from the previous year. To determine what options you have, you must look at your marital status on December 31 of the previous year. If your divorce was final by that date, you will not have the option of filing jointly, because your divorce was legally complete. If your divorce was not yet final on that date, you will have several options to choose from.

You Could File Jointly If You Want

The next thing to understand is that you have the right to file a joint return with your spouse if you want; however, your spouse will also have to agree to this. Many couples involved in divorces will choose this option if it will result in a lower tax liability. In other words, if filing together improves the return, it would only make sense to file jointly.

If you decide to file jointly, it is very important for you to have a written agreement regarding the way you will split the tax refund check if you are expecting one. Without a written agreement, the spouse that receives the check or direct deposit for the refund may end up keeping it all to him or herself, and this would not be fair. You do not have to agree to split the refund evenly if you do not want to, but you should agree as to how it will be split.

On the other hand, if filing jointly increases your tax liability, it would probably make more sense to consider filing the returns separately.

You Must Decide The Filing Status Of Each Spouse If Filing Separately

If it will not work out to file jointly, the only other option you have is to file separately. When you do this, one spouse will have the right to file as Head of Household and the other will have to file Married Filing Separately. You cannot both file Head of Household; however, you can both file Married Filing Separately.

The person that gets to file Head of Household will usually have some benefits over the other spouse, and this could result in lower taxes. For example, a person filing with this status will be allowed to itemize his or her deductions, while the person filing Married Filing Separately may not be able to.

Another issue you may have to talk about with your spouse involves the exemptions for the children. If you have a child, only one of you can claim this child on your return, and this can often become an argument during divorces. The ability to claim a child offers tax benefits, so you will need to decide how you will handle this. If you have two kids, you could agree to each claim one of them. If you have only one child, you may want to agree to alternate claiming the child from year to year.

Filing taxes during a divorce can be tricky, but it is something you must do. If you have any questions about how this works, contact a family law attorney today.

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