<prompt> Human: The wife and I just started filing our taxes and found out we are not eligible to deduct student loan interest if were married and filing separately. Is there any way around this? The student loan interest is how we get the most money back!Assistant: Is there any reason you are filing separately? Filing joint will almost always give you a better tax result.Human: We really hadnt given much thought into it. Were still waiting on her name to be legally changed...its taken forever. Can we file jointly even with her maiden name?  <response>: Yes - as long as you were married as of December 31, 2013, you can file joint for tax year 2013.To prevent any confusion in the filing process, just make sure to use her maiden name on the return if it has not been legally changed yet. 