Getting Married & Buying First Home: Do I qualify for tax credit? (property, legal)

[CMartel2]

Just curious if there are others in this both. This June I'm going to be entering the workforce for the first time and marrying my lovely fiance. This 8K tax credit would work great for us....except she's owned a house before (and within the last 3-years).

Is there a way we can collect on this? Say we close on the house before we're married.... Or I leave her off the title?

Is it in our best interest to merely have a church wedding and ditch the state wedding so that we can still file as single and then be legally married the next tax year?

$8k would really help out, especially as I have just over 100k in student loans. *(though I guess I should be happy I was able to keep them that low)

[palmcoasting]

What is the definition of a first-time home buyer?
The law defines "first-time home buyer" as a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase. For married taxpayers, the law tests the homeownership history of both the home buyer and his/her spouse.

For example, if you have not owned a home in the past three years but your spouse has owned a principal residence, neither you nor your spouse qualifies for the first-time home buyer tax credit. However, unmarried joint purchasers may allocate the credit amount to any buyer who qualifies as a first-time buyer, such as may occur if a parent jointly purchases a home with a son or daughter. Ownership of a vacation home or rental property not used as a principal residence does not disqualify a buyer as a first-time home buyer.

I'm not an expert on it but it looks to me if you purchase the house before being married you can claim the credit.