Divorces can get incredibly complicated — particularly when tax season rolls around.

When you and your husband or wife split up, you’re going to face a lot of different (and sometimes difficult) choices regarding your filing status. Those choices may also restrict your access to certain tax credits, deductions, or impact how much you can claim for dependents.

Don’t let all of these complications overwhelm you, because we’re here to help.

To guide you through the process of filing taxes after divorce, we’ll explain how to determine your tax filing status post-divorce, whether alimony and legal fees are tax deductible, and who can claim any children you might have on your return after the divorce.

Key Takeaways

• When you divorce midyear you'll be filing using one status for the first part of the year, and then using a different filing status for the remainder of the year.

• After your divorce is finalized, you’ll need to update your information with the Social Security Administration and file a new Form W-4 with the IRS.

• If you and your spouse are in a good place, it's normally cheaper to file as a married couple for the portion of the year you were married.

How Does Divorcing Midyear Affect Your Tax Return?

Midyear divorce tax implications vary in size and scope depending on a few key factors.

First, there’s the issue of legal separation.

Under IRS rules, you and your spouse are still technically married until your divorce is final. That means if you’ve filed for divorce at some point during the tax year but it doesn’t go through before New Year’s Eve, your tax code says that you’re still legally married. 

This rule applies until a court has stated that you’re divorced or legally separated.

If you’re estranged (but not divorced), there are several alternative filing options available to you — and we’ll cover those in just a minute. But if your divorce does get finalized halfway through the tax year, things get a little complicated.

That’s because you’re going to be filing your next tax return under multiple filing statuses.

“For most tax purposes, you'll be paying as a married couple for the first part of the year, then separately for the remainder of the year,” explains Ben Michael, an attorney at Michael & Associates in Dallas.

“Different circumstances and jurisdictions can change this, but for the most part, your income taxes, mortgage interest deduction, dependent children, and other key factors will function in this way.”

There are enough contributing factors here that you and your spouse will definitely want to consult a professional accountant or tax planner to help navigate these complications. That journey starts by determining what your filing statuses are and when they changed.

How Do You Determine Your Tax Filing Status Post-Divorce?

Your tax filing status post-divorce doesn’t necessarily depend on whether you’re legally married. But if you're still married, there'll be a wider range of options available.

The IRS determines your marital status based on the last day of the tax year. That means if you’re divorced by December 31, you're considered unmarried for that entire year.

You’ll then be able to choose between these filing statuses:

• Single: To use this status, you must be unmarried or legally separated from your spouse under a divorce or separate maintenance decree. The main benefits of this filing status are the ease of filing your return and getting more deductions because your adjusted gross income (AGI) will be lower.

• Head of Household: To use this status, you and your spouse must have been living separately for the last six months, and you must pay more than half the cost of upkeep for running your home. Your home also needs to be the primary residence for your dependents for more than half of the year. The key benefit of this filing status is access to a lower tax rate and a higher Standard Deduction. 

If your spouse has died midyear rather than undergoing a divorce, you can approach this differently. Instead, you can file as a Qualifying Surviving Spouse with Dependent Child.

The qualifications are as follows:

• Your spouse must have died

• You must have qualified for the married filing jointly status in the year of their death.

• You mustn't have remarried. 

• You must claim a qualifying dependent that lives in your home for the year.

• You must have paid over one-half of the costs associated with the upkeep of your home.

The key benefit of using this filing status is that you’ll get to use the same standard deduction as a married couple even though you’re filing alone.

So, that covers your status for the part of the year you’re legally divorced or your spouse has died.

During the period in which you’re legally married, you can choose from the Single status or the Head of Household status. But you can also opt for:

• Married Filing Jointly (MFJ): To use this filing status, you must have been married before December 31 of the year before, and you and your spouse must agree to file a joint return. By choosing this status, you’ll get access to a higher deduction and a wider range of tax credits.

• Married Filing Separately (MFS): To use this filing status, you must have been married before December 31 of the year before. This status might lower your tax liabilities if one spouse had large medical expenses or miscellaneous itemized deductions for the part of the year you were married.

If you’re in a good place with your former spouse — or at least able to mediate through your attorneys or tax professionals — it’s typically worth working together on your returns to save money.

“If the divorcing couple can cooperate, it's usually financially advantageous to file as a married couple for the portion of the year during which you were married,” says Ben Michael of Michael & Associates.

As a point of reference, the Standard Deduction for the 2025 tax year is $15,000 for single filers. But if you’re filing jointly, you’ll benefit from a Standard Deduction of $30,000. You’re also open to a wider range of tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit.

That means you’d likely be able to minimize your tax bill for half the year using the MFS status.

Don’t forget: State laws may also have midyear divorce tax implications in terms of your tax bill or divorce settlement. When in doubt, you should consult local regulations and reach out to tax professionals to ensure you’re choosing the most appropriate filing status.

Does Your Tax Withholding Amount Generally Change if You Separate From Your Spouse?

Your “tax withholding” is the amount of cash that your employer is holding back from your monthly paycheck that then gets paid directly to the IRS on your behalf. 

This is important when filing your taxes because you can lower your tax withholding amount by asking for more money to be taken out of your pay.

But when you get divorced midyear, withholding amounts can change. Withholding amounts can change alongside your marital status and whether you’re the parent claiming kids as dependents on your tax return post-divorce. 

“Withholding should typically be changed as soon as you are aware in a year that your filing status will be changing,” says Diana A. Crawford, CPA at Crawford, Merritt and Company.

“If couples jointly operate businesses or have disproportionate incomes, they may be required to make estimated tax payments while they are married. Great care and caution should be made to report the estimated tax payments to the proper spouse in a year where you may not end up filing jointly.”

Are Alimony and Separate Maintenance Payments Tax Deductible?

Some of the key financial interactions between divorced couples tend to be alimony payments or separate maintenance payments.

If your divorce agreement was executed after December 31, 2018, alimony payments are neither deductible by the payer nor taxable to the recipient. Likewise, child support payments are non-deductible for the payer and non-taxable for the recipient.

“Alimony and Separate Maintenance payments are no longer tax deductible for the payer and not considered income for the recipient after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017,” explains Greg O'Brien, CPA and co-founder of Anomaly CPA in Boston. “This is a surprise to many.”

So, don’t get caught off-guard.

Who Can Claim Children as Dependents After a Divorce?

This is a tricky one. But typically, the parent with custody of a child can claim the child on their tax return. If you and your spouse opt for joint custody but ‌aren’t filing using an MFJ status, you’ll need to work out between you which parent can claim the dependent on their return.

If the two of you can't agree, the IRS has tie-breaker rules that dictate which one of you can claim your kids as dependents on your return.

The IRS will let you claim your children as dependents if they’ve lived with you for a longer period of time during the year. But if each parent has had the kids for the same amount of time, the IRS will let the parent with the higher adjusted gross income (AGI) for that tax year.

“Parents that both contribute more than half of the support of children should specify which parents will claim each child in each year, through the time period that a child would normally complete their college education,” says Crawford, Merritt and Company’s Diana A. Crawford.

“Often, with one child, an alternating-year methodology works if there is equal support. In other cases, one parent consistently claims specific children with the spouse claiming other specific children each year.”

If there’s something big enough to affect itemized deductions — like sizable medical expenses — you and your spouse can strike an agreement on who pays for healthcare pre-tax or post-tax.

The parent who gets to claim their kids as dependents post-divorce is called the “custodial parent”. They’ll also get access to the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, American Opportunity Tax Credit, and the Lifetime Learning Education Tax Credit.

If you’re the noncustodial parent, you won’t be allowed to claim any of these credits. You also can’t use the Head of Household Filing status.

Midyear Divorce Tax Implications For Your Retirement Plans or IRAs

When you and your spouse divorce, there are a lot of IRS forms you’ll need to update regardless of the filing status you’re going for.

These include updating your name, address, and marital status with the Social Security Administration, as well as updating your information with the IRS by filing a new Form W-4. But you’ll also need to consider how the divorce may affect other policies or annuities.

“Make sure to update the beneficiary on all retirement plans, life insurance policies, and annuities incident to divorce. Often, divorce settlements will have spouses transferring portions of their accounts to their spouse's pre-tax account in property settlement,” says Diana A. Crawford. 

“When considering the division of assets, consideration to pre-tax and post-tax assets should be made as one will carry future tax costs and one will not.”

Can You Deduct Legal Fees When Filing Taxes After Divorce?

Legal fees associated with divorce aren’t usually tax-deductible. The only real exception to this rule is if you’ve accumulated legal fees related to tax advice or obtaining taxable alimony.

“As soon as a divorce is contemplated or imminent, each spouse should plan towards filing a return solely based on their income and deductions. Should the divorce not be finalized by year's end, some alternative strategies should be contemplated,” says Crawford.

Because couples generally stand to save money on their respective tax bills by filing jointly for part of the year, it’s important that you’re able to work closely with your ex-partner and their tax advisor or attorney to get everything right the first time.

That’s where a Family Operating System® like Trustworthy can reduce a lot of friction.

Trustworthy is a digital safe that lets you store copies of all your family IDs, tax information, estate documents, insurance policies, property deeds, and more. 

You can then add collaborators to your account — enabling your spouse and financial planner to log in and access all the right documents to complete all the necessary tax returns in good time.

Ready to start getting your house in order? Explore Trustworthy and its range of features now.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Pays Back Taxes After a Divorce?

When filing taxes after divorce, you and your former spouse share responsibility for any tax liabilities incurred during the time in which you were married. 

Who Pays Property Taxes in a Divorce?

The person who’s listed as the property owner on the day property tax is reported will be responsible for paying property taxes. If your divorce isn’t final when taxes are reported, you’re both liable.