HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD
An individual in one family setting who provides actual support and maintenance to one or more individuals who are related to him or her through ADOPTION, blood, or marriage.
The designation head of household, also
termed head of family, is applied to one whose
authority to exercise family control and to sup-
port the dependent members is founded upon a
moral or legal obligation or duty.
Head of household is also a filing status for
federal income taxpayers. There are five basic
categories of tax statuses: (1) single persons;
(2) heads of households; (3) married taxpayers
filing joint returns; (4) married taxpayers filing
separate returns; and (5) surviving spouses.
Each of these persons pays at different rates. The
tax rates for single persons are ordinarily higher
than rates for heads of household, while rates for
a HUSBAND AND WIFE filing a joint return are
lower.
In order for an individual to qualify as head
of household for INCOME TAX purposes, the per-
son need not be unmarried all year as long as the
person is unmarried on the final day of the tax
year. In addition, the person must support and
maintain a household to the extent that his or
her monetary contribution exceeds one-half of
the total cost of maintenance. The person’s
home must be the main place of residence of
one relative, with the exception of a mother and
father, for the whole year. Relatives include chil-
dren, grandchildren, stepchildren, brothers and
sisters, half brothers or half sisters, and step-
brothers and stepsisters. The individual’s par-
ents need not reside in the same home as the
taxpayer for him or her to claim this status, pro-
vided the person meets the support require-
ments specified.
Homestead exemption statutes, which have
been passed in a majority of jurisdictions, per-
mit a head of household to designate a house
and land as a homestead and exempt it from
execution for general debts in the event of BANK-
RUPTCY. In addition, some states make available
property tax exemptions for homestead prop-
erty. Such statutes often require the formal
