Family Issues

It is recommended that you contact the IRS when you get a divorce or legal separation in order to establish financial independence going into the future, especially if prior returns were filed as married filing jointly.

You should notify all credit reporting agencies and credit card companies about your new, unmarried status.
You should notify the credit bureaus of both your and your ex-spouse's new names and social security numbers, addresses and specify that those accounts need to be reported separately.
If you do not, transactions may be reported on the wrong spouse's account. This will help limit your liability and make you resposible for only your future obligations.

There are many factors to clarify before you claim your child as a dependent. Generally a special rule favoring the custodial parent applies where divorced or separated parents together, provide more than half the child's support.
The custodial parent will meet the dependency support test even if she did not pay half the child's support.
The parents may arrange for the non-custodial parent to claim the child if IRS Form 8332 is signed by the custodial parent and supplied with the non-custodial parents tax return. Form 8332 is a waiver of claiming the exemption and the exemption waiver can be used for that year only, or for future years as well. Speak to your local CPA about the other criteria in claiming the child and about Form 8332.

No.The filing of joint or separate estimated payments does not mean that you are committed to filing that way. However, you will need to advise the IRS as to how to allocate the estimated payment. Often this can be an area of difficulty when individuals are going through a divorce and have decided to file separately after making joint estimated tax payments.

Nine states are "Community Property" states. They are Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas,Washington and Wisconsin.

When both spouses are income earners, the tax they pay when they file a joint return is usually greater than the tax they would pay separately if they were still single. This is referred to as the marriage penalty. When you are married you cannot choose to file as single. You must file either jointly with your spouse, or file "married, filing separately". Filing separately from your spouse is usually even more costly.

No. If you are married on the last day of the year, you must file either married filing jointly or married filing separately. You are not allowed to file as single.

No. If you are married (as of the last day of the year),you may elect to file using the status of married Jointly or married Separately. Generally, separate tax returns may be more beneficial and save both people money, especially when both people have earnings and taxable income, and high medical or miscellaneous itemized deductions. Filing separately may allow more of the phased-out itemized deductions which are based on the taxpayer(s) Adjusted Gross Income.

If you did not live with your spouse for the last 6 months of the current tax year and you maintained a household for your dependent child, then you may file as a "Head of Household" filing status.
Head of household filing status is better than married filing separately or single. You should speak to your local CPA prior to filing your tax return.