You can file a Joint return the year your spouse died. For the next two years following a husband's or wife's death, the surviving spouse can file as a qualifying widow or widower if they have a qualifying child. That basically lets you continue to use the same tax brackets that apply to married-filing-jointly returns. After the year of death if you don't have a child you file as Single.
See How to file if your spouse recently died
https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/small-business-processes/file-return-spo...
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