Stuart A. Bronstein <spamtrap[at]lexregia.com> wrote:
- quote -

Since they moved in together in May 2008, she is NOT his dependent.
Rule is "all year".

If their child was born on or before 12/31/2008, he can file as
Unmarried Head of Household. Otherwise he has to file single.

There is a Utah case where the IRS sucessfully challenged a
common law marriage on the grounds that there had never been
a "Present Tense" agreement to be married.

I am the high priest of "Living in Sin for Fun and Profit".
Living in sin can be better than being married. It is
well-known that you get treated better before marriage than
afterwards. My Mothers-in-Law treated me like the catch of
a lifetime before I married their daughter. After marriage,
they both became the "Mother-in-Law from Hell".

I presume ending a non-marital relationship is less costly
financially and emotionally. So my advice is do not get
married unless you want to be married and tax purposes is
not usually a sound reason to get married.

Dick

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Stuart A. Bronstein wrote:
- quote -

represent themselves as married.

However to the OP, if she were a member of his household for the ENTIRE
year, he may claim her as a dependent.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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sparkygirl38_at_hotmail_dot_com[at]foo.com (dgm) wrote:

- quote -

Apparently SC is a common-law marriage state. From what I've seen, to
be married there all they need is the intent to be married. If they've
ever told or implied to anyone that they were married, then they may
well be.

And if they're not considered married now, if they file a joint tax
return that may just do it for them.

Stu

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My nephew and his fiance had a baby together last year. They bought a
house and moved in together in May. She is 18 years old and does not work
outside the home. He lives in SC, if that will make a diffeence. Can he
claim her as a dependent on his tax return this year even though they are
not yet married?
-----



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<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >