I'm considering (yeah, waffling back and forth) divorce. If I do it this year (2019), it is highly unlikely it will be over before the end of the year. If my wife refuses to file jointly for this year, then I am forced to file separately, which will cost a few thousand in tax. I have no way of knowing if she will or won't until it happens, in which case it will be too late. We're in Florida, so there supposedly are no separation agreements, which is one of the elements which theoretically, in another state, would allow me to be single as far as IRS.