Eligibility

• To file taxes as a head of household, you must be unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year; you must have paid more than half the cost of maintaining your household during the year; and you must have had a qualifying relative live with you during the year.
  
  

Consideration

• If you're still legally married, you can be considered unmarried for head of household purposes if you are not filing a joint tax return and your spouse did not live in your home at all in the last six months of the year.
  
  

Relatives

• You can claim head of household status if you have one or more qualifying relatives in your household: unmarried children, regardless of whether you claim them as dependents on your taxes; and parents, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews, if you can claim them as dependents. Children and parents do not have to live with you for you to claim them; all others must live with you for at least half the year.