I been married for the last five years and recently moved out from my house. I'll start my divorce as soon I get the money to pay a lawyer but in the meantime would like to know what to do with my payroll filling status. Should I change it to "Single" even tough I'm not divorce yet? Thanks

You can change it to single if you wish. They will take out more taxes though. You can still stay married and file married filing separately. It depends on what tax bracket you are in though. I'd stay married and file separately come tax time. Then go to single once you are totally divorced.

I agree, it would be easier plus they won't take out as much money if you're filing married. Single, they take out a LOT.
I used this site for my divorce, I could NOT afford a lawyer either but could not wait for one, a friend told me of this site and they were great: JointDivorce.com - Inexpensive Online Divorce Forms Solution (http://jointdivorce.com/)

When you file for 2008, your filing choices will be Married Filing Jointly (MFJ) or Married Filing Separately (MFS).

MFJ may get you a higehr refund, but there is the complexity of working with your soon-to-be-ex to get your share of the refund. Refunds CAN be split and sent to separate accounts using Form 8888, but many divorcing couples cannot get past the mutual animosity to get the return filed.

Filing MFS is simpler, but MAY require some coordination with your ex-spouse if there is a home mortgage involved.

Use of a tax professional may be justified here, if, for no other reason than to have an disinterested third-party to act as an intermediary between you and your ex-spouse.

Well, actually you should be aware that if you are divorced by Dec 31 you will in fact be regarded as not married. So if the divorce happens between now and year end, there will be no married filing jointly or married filing separately. You'll be single, or maybe head of household if you have dependents.

TTE:

Good point; should have thought to include that.