Filing Taxes Jointly As A Stipulation Of Divorce

My ex and I were married for only 8 months when he left me somewhat out of the blue. That was over a year ago. He left me in our shared apartment, with all the bills, during the first time in our relationship (and my adult life) that I did not have a job. When he left he left, there was some minor communication for maybe 3 weeks and then nothing. I was fully on my own.

During tax season last year, I was still in the throws of the event, and it was very difficult for me to function at all. So I chose the status married filing separately in order to make the process easy for myself emotionally. We did communicate during this time exclusively to exchange SSNS. That’s the last time we had talked.

Unfortunately, I did not pursue divorce last year for a similar reason. I was focusing on building myself back up both emotionally and financially and did not want to think about him. In a way I am grateful I did so because I am in a better state now, but I also am also regretful as it has lead to my current situation.

I will lose out on a minimum of nearly $3k in returns if we do not file jointly. Part of this has to due with the no tax on overtime; I qualify for the full $12,500 deduction, but I cannot use it if I select married filing separately. I did reach out to him to try and do this civilly, but he is flat out refusing without any explanation. I would show screenshots of the texts but this sub doesn’t allow it. We don’t have any shared asset, but I have individual assets. I purchased a home in this last year, while we were separated. He does not know this. I haven’t even included those documents in my taxes yet so I’m not sure how that will affect them. I also do have some savings that he is aware of.

For some additional context, I financially supported my ex for a vast majority of our relationship, to the point that 2 separate years (before we were married) I even claimed him as a dependent on my taxes. It was not until the last year or two of our relationship that he was financially contributing consistently to the household.

I am hoping for advice on whether pursuing this in a legal manner will be worth it financially. If we file separate , I will only see about $300 in returns. I know that is a safe option with a guaranteed small profit. Then we could just sign divorce papers and go on with our lives. But I am so frustrated that he has been able to take so much from me financially and now wants to “take” from me again. I feel like if I file separately I will be giving in to what he wants.

I am less concerned about this process being more time consuming and emotionally draining, and honestly I’m not even sure I care if I only get $300 out of it. What do you think the courts would say is fair, does he owe me money? Would I be able to make filing taxes jointly a stipulation of our divorce? Would I likely see at least $300 profit if I pursued this avenue? Would I even have time to get this done before tax season? I am looking for as much advice as I can get.

Location: Maryland, USA

Edit: I am really appreciating everyone’s feedback and taking it seriously. The topic of the home I bought during the separation has been brought up a few times. I was told that buying the home with my own funds and without his name on anything would protect me from him trying to claim it as his at all. Is that the case? Can anyone please tell me what might happen with my home since I did this?