Filing Status

[Paul-G-328]

Can a client that was divorced in 2025 file Single even though the 120 day waiting period extends into 2026?

[Dusty1]

What was the date that the divorced was final - that is the date.

[Terry53029]

The waiting period is a state mandate, but will not affect filing status for 2025 if your client was divorced by 12/31/2025 then file as single or HH if qualified for tax year 2025 

[BobKamman]

Waiting period usually means the time between the petition being filed and the decree being signed.  What state is involved here?  Filing a petition doesn't mean being divorced.  

[Just-Lisa-Now-]

What 120 day waiting period? 

If the divorce is "final" you're single as of that date.

I know in CA, it takes 6 months for the divorce to finalize once judge grants the petition, during that 6 months, you're still married.

[Terry53029]

several states have a waiting period after divorce is final before you can do some things (like get remarried), but you are divorced, and can file single after the date of divorce, and waiting period has no effect on that

[BobKamman]

Name one.

Here is the list of waiting periods by state, before the decree is final.  

https://kgnlawfirm.com/divorce-waiting-periods-by-state/ 

[BobKamman]

To answer my own question, there are no states with divorce laws that prohibit remarriage for a "waiting period" after final decree.  There are six states with marriage laws that don't allow issuance of a license to someone recently divorced.  What this means is that someone in Wisconsin may have to book a wedding venue in Illinois.  Since it's fairly easy to get around this archaic rule, no one has challenged its constitutionality, but they would likely win.  

And of course, many divorce decrees prohibit remarriage for those collecting spousal maintenance.  Well, OK, they don't prohibit it, they just stop the payments if it happens. 

"Wisconsin is one of only six states which still have a mandatory waiting period for remarriage after a divorce is finalized. Of the six states with a mandatory remarriage waiting period, Kansas and Texas require a period of only 30 days, Alabama requires a period of only 60 days, but Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin require a minimum of 6 months. This mandatory remarriage waiting period is in addition to the minimum 4-month period required to obtain a divorce judgment in the state of Wisconsin, although many divorces take much longer to finalize. Wisconsin’s current law requiring the mandatory waiting period for remarriage was originally enacted in 1911 and was modified in 1977."

https://www.bandleandzaeske.com/bill-aimed-at-ending-wisconsins-remarriage-waiting-period-after-divo...