Generally, your marital status on the last day of the year determines your
status for the entire year. If you are unmarried, or if you are legally separated
from your spouse under a divorce or separate maintenance decree according
to your state law, and you do not qualify for another filing status, your
filing status is single.
Generally, to qualify for head of household status, you must be unmarried
and not entitled to file as a qualifying widow or widower with a dependent
child. You must also have provided more than half the cost of maintaining
as your home a household that was the main home for a qualifying person. You
may also qualify for head of household status if you, though married, file
a separate return, your spouse was not a member of your household during the
last six months of the tax year, and you provided more than half the cost
of maintaining as your home a household that was the main home for more than
one half of your tax year of a child who is qualifying.
If you are married, you and your spouse may file a joint return or separate
returns.
If your spouse died and you did not remarry in the year that your spouse
died, you may still file a joint return for that year. This is the last year
for which you may file a joint return with that spouse.
You may be able to file as a qualifying widow or widower for the two years
following the year your spouse died. To do this, you must meet all four of
the following tests:
- You were entitled to file a joint return with your spouse for the year
he or she died. It does not matter whether you actually filed a joint return,
- You did not remarry in the two years following the year your spouse died,
- You have a child, stepchild, or adopted child (a foster child
does not meet this requirement) for whom you can claim a dependency exemption,
and
- You paid more than half the cost of maintaining a household that was the
main home for you and that child, for the whole year.
More detailed information on each filing status can be found in Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information.
