Five Common Tax Considerations When Getting Divorced

1. You can file “Married Filing Jointly” Even Thought the Divorce Action is Pending

A taxpayer who is married on the last date of the year may file as Married filing jointly, married filing separately, or in some circumstances, as Head of Household. However, as far as the IRS is considered parties who are separated but who do not have a divorce degree or separate maintenance order in effect is considered married for tax return purposes. This is true even if your divorce trial is in early January the next year.

This can have significant benefits if the couple has marital home they need to sell as a part of the divorce resolution. With more and more houses with negative equity, partition of the marital home is increasingly common.

At the very least, filing jointly with your soon to be former spouse can put a couple extra dollars in both of the parties pockets.

Read the full article here http://www.divorcenet.com/resources/divorce/divorce-taxation/five-tax-considerations-divorced.htm