Hi There
I am from Pennsylvania, but I think this applies in all states. As long as your spouse didn't live with you the last day of 2004, you should be able to file single. I was separated from my husband for 2003, but we never divorced. We both filed single. I should have done this for 2002 as he did not live with me the last 2 months of the year, but I didn't know about it at the time. He didn't live with me at all during 2003. I am by no means a lawyer, but I am speaking from personal experience. We reconciled in 2004, so it is my understanding that we have to file married, filing jointly as we did before we separated. Go to
www.irs.gov to make sure. I am almost positive that as long as the spouse didn't live in the home the last day of the tax year, then you can file single. Please note that there may be a certain amount of days/months that the spouse has to be out of the home before you can do this. The impression I got from the IRS web site was that as long as they didn't live there the last day of the tax year. I am speaking from personal experience where my spouse did not live in my home the whole tax year.
