filing jointly - mid year divorce

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Tax filing status is based on your marital status as of 12/31. So if the divorce is final it's either single or HOH depending on circumstances, unless you remarry.

Alimony paid is deductible, if you two live apart and the payments meet the rules as alimony, AND you don't file a joint return for that year.

Tax filing status is based on your marital status as of 12/31. So if the divorce is final it's either single or HOH depending on circumstances, unless you remarry.

==========Note that is requires that the divorce be FINAL, not merely filed for.

In California, there's a minimum 6 month statutory "cooling off" period between filing and finality, even if the court has already entered its verdict or accepted a settlement.

That six month period starts when the court gets jurisdiction over the parties, not when the order dissolving the marriage is entered. If it's taken the parties that long to resolve their issues (very likely) then the divorce is final whenever the court enters the order. And they can request the order be entered retroactively to a time that is six months or more after the applicable date.

The actual dates are:

1. In a regular divorce situation the 6 month clock starts on the day spouse2 is served with the papers notifying him/her that spouse1 has filed for divorce. The divorce is final when the court order is issued after the miimum 6 month waiting period has elapsed.
2. If the parties can meet the rules for a "summary dissolution of marriage", then the clock starts when they file their joint petition paperwork with the county clerk. The divorce is final at the end of the

6 month period. The actual final date will be on the paperwork that they get back from the clerk.