Question:
Me and my Fiancee' would like to get married in the near future maybe a year or two. In the meantime can we file our taxes as married even though we are not legally married? We live as husband and wife in all aspects of a commonlaw marriage, (known as husband and wife to people, share finances, share bank accounts, and co-habitate naturally) so my question is do you actually have to be legally married to someone to file that way on your taxes? I ask this because we are technically considered commonlaw in the state we live in we just aren't recognized as commonlaw because we've never gone through the paperwork. (And yes there is some) So can i file that way? Also can I take his last name even though we are not married?
Answers:
A common law marriage, in states where it is still recognized and there aren't many, is a legal marriage, and if you are common law married and want to split up, you'd have to get a divorce. And if you are married by common law, you not only can but must file your taxes as married.
If your state requires paperwork to be filed to be considered married by common law, and you haven't filed it, then you do NOT meet your state's requirements, and are NOT considered married, so can't file taxes as married.
You can use whatever name you want to as long as you aren't using it for fraudulent purposes.
This is probably a stupid question, but why don't you just go get a license and get married officially and get rid of all the questions? You say you want to get married in the next year or two - what's stopping you? It might be less hassle than the common law paperwork.
Yes you have to be legally married or legally life partner to file your tax as married. Otherwise, everone ccan file as a married without offical legal document.
My suggestion is to get married as both of you are living like a married couple then why not get married?
Of course not! Your marital status on December 31st determines how you must file. If you are not married according to the laws of your state, you cannot file as married.
If your state requires some paperwork to be considered common law husband and wife and you do not have that paperwork then you are NOT common law husband and wife. Technically and legally, you are SINGLE. Period!
There is no status such as "life partner" as alluded to by another poster. Unless you are MARRIED according to state law, you are SINGLE.
You can take any last name you wish, that has nothing to do with your tax filing status.
Addendum: There is no way to file a joint return without being legally married. Since you are not legally married under your state's laws, you cannot file as married. Some states that recognize common law marriage require some proof on paper that the common law relationship exists to prevent accidental or unintentional common law marriages from being created. TX is one such state. If you live in TX as common law husband and wife and don't have the piece of paper from the state, you are NOT common law husband and wife.
The purpose of Common Law marriage laws is to protect the spouse and children when a formal declaration has not been made. In most states, any piece of paper is simply a declaration of a fact that already exists for bureaucratic purposes. If you file as married, that is one aspect of presenting yourself as married, others include introducing yourselves as husband and wife, living together publicly, listing each as parents of children. Normally the only time it arises is when one of the two people tries to do something to escape or dies. Then the remaining person uses evidence of common law marriage status to get child support, inheritance, house ownership, liability, or community property.
Common law marriage is an after-the-fact kind of thing to prove you WERE married. As when the IRS challenges your married deduction because your husband filed taxes as single in Alaska.
You cannot file as married if you are not married according to the laws of the state you reside in. Yes, you actually have to be legally married to file your taxes as married. You are not technically considered to be in a commonlaw marriage in your state if you have not met all of that state's requirements.
If you maintain a house together and have a child, whichever parent pays more than half of the household expenses can file as Head of Household based on the child.
Your last name is not an issue for taxes.
If you did that in Pennsylvania, then you would become a common law married couple. Since you don't say which state you are from I don't know what the common law is in your state.
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