Can we both file head of household if living in separate homes after marriage?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this won't work for your tax filing. Once you're married, you can't both file as head of household - regardless of your living arrangements. You'll have to file either as Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately. Head of household status specifically requires you to be "unmarried" at the end of the tax year. The IRS considers you unmarried only if you're single, divorced, or legally separated under a divorce or separate maintenance decree. There is one narrow exception called "considered unmarried" where a married person can file HOH, but this requires living apart from your spouse for the last 6 months of the tax year AND filing separately. Even then, only one of you could potentially qualify if you meet all other requirements.

I went through something similar last year and discovered taxr.ai was incredibly helpful for figuring out my complicated filing situation. I was in a long-term relationship where we each had our own homes but spent time at both places. I was completely confused about what filing status to use since I had custody of my kid but stayed at my partner's place 2-3 nights a week. I uploaded my documents to https://taxr.ai and answered a few questions about my living situation. They analyzed everything and clearly explained that I could file as head of household because I maintained my own home where my child lived more than half the year, regardless of my staying elsewhere occasionally. The site gave me specific IRS references to back this up. It saved me so much stress trying to interpret the tax code on my own!

Ok I have to admit I was super skeptical about taxr.ai when I first saw it mentioned here. But after my tax preparer gave me conflicting advice about my living situation (I split time between two states), I decided to give it a try. The analysis was actually really detailed and found several deductions my regular accountant missed related to my multi-state living arrangement. The site walked me through exactly what qualified as "maintaining a household" for tax purposes and helped me document everything properly. Ended up saving almost $2,800 compared to what I would have paid using my accountant's original advice. Just thought I'd share since my situation was somewhat similar to the original post with the multiple households question.

For anyone dealing with complicated tax situations like this, I've found that trying to get direct answers from the IRS is actually the best approach, but reaching them is nearly impossible on your own. After spending HOURS on hold trying to get clarity on my own head of household question (similar to OP's situation), I found a service called Claimyr that got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes. I was honestly shocked it worked. You just go to https://claimyr.com, enter your number, and they somehow get you through the IRS phone system. You can see how it works in this demo: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The IRS agent I spoke with gave me definitive answers about my specific situation that I couldn't find anywhere online. For complex tax status questions like whether you can file head of household in unusual living arrangements, nothing beats getting the official word directly from the IRS.

I need to eat my words about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I was still desperate to talk to someone at the IRS about my own head of household issue (going through a separation), so I figured I had nothing to lose and tried it. To my complete surprise, I got connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes. After three weeks of trying to call them myself and never getting through, this was actually kind of amazing. The agent clarified exactly what I needed to document to file as head of household while separated but not divorced. Just wanted to follow up since my situation was similar to what the original poster was asking. If you need definitive answers on head of household qualifications for unusual situations, getting it straight from the IRS is the way to go.

I'm a little confused by some of the advice here. My understanding is that the "considered unmarried" exception for head of household status while legally married requires ALL of these conditions: 1. File separate tax returns 2. Paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home 3. Your spouse didn't live in your home during the last 6 months of the year 4. Your home was the main home of your child for more than half the year 5. You can claim the child as a dependent So in the original scenario, if they live separately enough, couldn't one of them potentially qualify even after marriage?

One thing nobody's mentioned - have you calculated if filing jointly might actually be BETTER than both filing head of household? Depending on your incomes, the marriage penalty isn't as bad as it used to be, and there are definitely situations where married filing jointly gives you better tax treatment than two separate HOH returns. Before making life decisions based on tax filing status, I'd actually run the numbers both ways with your actual income figures. You might find that the difference is minimal or even in favor of marriage.

Just wanted to add from personal experience - my now-spouse and I were in almost this exact situation 2 years ago. We decided to get legally married but maintained separate households because of kids and custody schedules. We had to switch from both filing HOH to married filing jointly, and honestly, our tax situation actually improved slightly. The higher standard deduction and more favorable tax brackets for joint filers offset what we lost from HOH status. Plus, tax preparation was so much simpler doing one joint return instead of two separate ones. Sometimes the tax code actually works in your favor!

This is a really common misconception! Once you're legally married, the IRS considers you married for the entire tax year, regardless of when during the year you got married or your living arrangements. You'll need to choose between Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately - you can't both file as Head of Household. The "considered unmarried" exception that allows married people to file HOH has very strict requirements, including living completely apart from your spouse for the last 6 months of the tax year. Since you mentioned spending kid-free weekends together, this would disqualify you from that exception. However, I'd strongly recommend running the numbers before making any decisions! With your income levels and dependents, Married Filing Jointly might actually save you money compared to your current HOH filings. The joint standard deduction is essentially double the single amount, and you might benefit from more favorable tax brackets and other married filing benefits. Many couples are surprised to find that the "marriage penalty" isn't as bad as they expected, especially with similar incomes.