Sorry for your loss. I lost my husband in 2023. Don't change the name order for 2024. You can file a Joint return as normal 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. And then next year start over with a new return and new account.
This answer has been verified for accuracy by an Intuit expert employee
