Now that 2010 has ended, you may be wondering what impact divorce has on your tax status. The general rule is that the IRS determines your tax status for a particular year based on your marital status on the last day of that year.
So, if your divorce judgment was approved by the court on or before December 31, 2010, then the IRS considers you unmarried for tax purposes for the entire year. Even if you were married for 11 months and divorced for 1 month, you will still file tax returns as Unmarried (or as Head of Household if you qualify).
If your divorce judgment was not approved by the court on or before December 31, 2010, then the IRS considers you married for tax purposes for the entire year. So, even if you filed for divorce during 2010 and have been living separately, you will still file tax returns as Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately (or Head of Household if you qualify).
For more information about how divorce impacts taxes, here is a link to IRS Publication 504, titled “Divorced or Separated Individuals”.
Disclaimer: This blog post does not constitute legal or tax advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship with the reader. Check with your accountant about your particular situation since there are always exceptions to the general rule and tax laws may change.
