@fdonkin wrote:
IRS Publication 969 mentions a death exemption. Does it apply?
The only thing I see is related to the "last month rule". If you started the HSA in January 2020, that does not apply to you.
You follow the usual rules. First, an HSA is owned by one person only. Second, if one spouse is covered by a family HDHP, then both spouses can contribute to an HSA as if both spouses had HDHPs even though the plan was only in 1 spouse's name.
So, if this is your spouse's HSA, no contributions are allowed after her death. Her maximum contribution (assuming that one or both of you was covered by a family HDHP and you had no other insurance that would disqualify you) would be $591, or $675 if she was age 55 or older. If you are now covered by a single HDHP since here death, your overall limit for 2020 would be $3845 minus whatever was contributed to her account, or $4845 minus whatever was contributed to her account if you are age 55 or older. (This is 11 months at single and 1 month at family.)
If the HSA is in your name, and assuming you had family coverage in January that switched to single coverage in February, then your limits would be $3845 or $4845, depending on your age.
