You would file Married Filing Separately in the year of your spouse's death, unless you qualify as Head of Household or Married Filing Jointly (presumably these are not options). Per IRS Publication 501, "If your spouse died during the year, you are considered married for the whole year for filing status purposes."
In 2016, the rules dictating your permitted filing status are essentially unchanged from prior years.
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar02.html#en_US_2016_publink1000220736
You can also work through the handy tool below to verify this response.
https://www.irs.gov/uac/what-is-my-filing-status
