For tax purposes, my parents are considered to have a marital status of "involuntary separation" . How do we prepare tax returns with Turbo Tax? Separately?

[scubadaver]

According to CRA my parents have now achieved "involuntary Separation" status for legal purposes because one parent is in a nursing home.   Therefore they are still legally married, but show as "single" in the calculation of income.  So the question remains....which way should we use Turbo Tax to prepare their tax returns?  As separate, single returns?  Or joint returns?    My suggestion is that you add a category in the joint returns software to account for involuntary separation.

[TonyC11 · Accepted solution]

Involuntary separation is not one of the categories of Marital Status defined by CRA.
The correct status is Married. You will report their residence as separate, is all. They are not actually Seprated for Marital purposes and can never be reported as Single once married.

There is no such thing as a Joint return in Canada, but you can prepare taxes individually or jointly, it is your choice. Suggest individual preparation may work for you.