Not sure of the answer to this situation - legally married but did not live with spouse for the last nine months of the year. Both maintain their our own separate households 100% and have two dependent children. One dependent child lived with one parent the last nine months of the year and claimed as a dependent. The other child lived with the other parent the last nine months of the year and claimed as a dependent by my that parent. Parents will file separate returns but can both claim Head of Household status under the abandoned spouse rules even though still married? It seems like it is a way to "work around" the requirement of being unmarried to file HH.