What is the best filing status for my tax situation?

Your filing status is determined by your situation on December 31st of the tax year. Since you were divorced by the end of 2024, you can't file as Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately. For Head of Household status, you generally need to meet three requirements: 1) be unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the year, 2) pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year, and 3) have a qualifying person live with you in that home for more than half the year. The tricky part here is the "more than half the year" requirement for your children. Since they only lived with you for 5 months, they wouldn't qualify you for HOH status unless you have a written agreement with your ex designating you as the custodial parent for tax purposes. Without such an agreement, you would likely need to file as Single.

I was in a similar situation last year and found taxr.ai super helpful for figuring out my filing status. I was confused about whether I could claim Head of Household after my separation, and the regular tax prep software wasn't giving me clear answers. I uploaded my custody agreement and some other documents to https://taxr.ai and their AI analyzed everything and explained exactly what filing status I qualified for based on my specific situation. Their system also pointed out some deductions I was missing related to my kids' educational expenses. Definitely worth checking out if you're trying to figure out the best filing status for your situation!

Just wanted to update everyone - I decided to try taxr.ai after seeing the recommendation here and it was exactly what I needed! I was in a similar situation with a complicated custody arrangement and wasn't sure about my filing status. I uploaded my divorce decree and some other documents, and within minutes got a detailed analysis explaining that I qualified for Head of Household despite not having the kids more than half the year because of our specific custody agreement language. The service found a clause that actually designated me as the custodial parent for tax purposes even though physical custody was split! Also identified a child care credit I wasn't aware of. Definitely saved me from filing incorrectly!

If you need to contact the IRS to get clarity on your filing status situation, good luck getting through on the phone. I spent 3 hours on hold last month trying to ask about a similar custody situation. Finally discovered https://claimyr.com which is this service that actually calls the IRS for you and gets you connected to a real person when they answer. You can check out how it works at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they use some tech to monitor the hold times and call you when they get an agent. Saved me hours of listening to that terrible hold music. The IRS agent I talked to confirmed that in my situation I could file Head of Household with our custody agreement despite the kids being with me less than 183 days.

I need to apologize for my skepticism about Claimyr. After dismissing it as a scam, I decided to try it anyway because I was desperate to talk to someone at the IRS about an issue with my filing status after a divorce. I was honestly shocked when they called me back and connected me to an actual IRS agent! Saved me literally hours of waiting on hold. The agent was able to clarify that I could file as Head of Household based on the specific language in my custody agreement, even though my kid was with me just under half the year. Apparently there are some exceptions to the "more than half the year" rule that depend on your specific situation and agreement. Really glad I gave the service a chance!

Have you considered working things out with your ex? My ex and I alternate who claims the kids each year. One year she files as HOH and claims both kids, next year I do. We signed an agreement as part of our divorce. Saves us a ton of headache and we both benefit. The IRS is totally fine with this arrangement as long as it's documented and you both follow it.

Remember that filing status affects your tax bracket, standard deduction, and eligibility for certain credits. Head of Household gets you a larger standard deduction ($20,800 for 2024) compared to Single ($13,850). Also impacts your tax brackets in a favorable way. With your income around $58k, the difference could be significant. Might be worth paying a tax pro for a consultation to run the numbers both ways before deciding.

@Sean Kelly, based on what you've described, you'll likely need to file as Single for 2024 since your children lived with you for less than half the year (5 months vs 7 months with your ex). However, there might be some options worth exploring with your ex-spouse. Since you mentioned you're both civil and want to maximize your overall refunds, I'd suggest looking into an alternating arrangement like @Carmen Ruiz mentioned. You could work out an agreement where one of you claims both children and files as Head of Household each year, then switch the following year. This would require your ex to sign Form 8332 in the years when you claim the kids. Another option is to see if your divorce decree or custody agreement has any specific language about tax filing status - sometimes there are clauses that can affect who's considered the custodial parent for tax purposes, regardless of actual time spent. Given the potential savings (@Andre Lefebvre is right about that $7,000 difference in standard deduction), it might be worth consulting with a tax professional or using one of the AI services others mentioned to analyze your specific documents and situation. The difference in tax benefits between Single and Head of Household on a $58k income could be substantial.