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1992 -- Filing Status
A taxpayer's filing status is determined as of the close of
the year and generally turns on whether the taxpayer is legally
separated from his or her spouse under a decree of divorce.
Secs. 2(b)(2)(B), 7703(a)(1). Generally, the State law of the
marital domicile controls the determination of whether a taxpayer
is legally separated under a decree of divorce. Dunn v.
Commissioner, 70 T.C. 361, 365-366 (1978), affd. without
published opinion 601 F.2d 599 (7th Cir. 1979).
Generally, under the law of New Jersey, a judgment does not
take effect before it is entered. N.J. Ct. C.P.R. 4:47. An
exception to this rule is when the court in the written judgment
specifies that the judgment will take effect from the time it is
signed. Id.
Another exception under New Jersey law permits a judgment to
be effective nunc pro tunc when, at the close of a proceeding, a
court, orally or in some other manner, clearly and conclusively
decides the outcome of the proceeding. Mahonchak v. Mahonchak,
459 A.2d 1207, 1208-1209 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1983). If it
"is clear that upon the close of the divorce trial the court made
a definitive adjudication of the controversy, reflecting its
conclusive determination that each party be granted a divorce[,]
* * * we [the New Jersey courts] subscribe to the view that the
entry of a written judgment is essentially a non-discretionary
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