Retirement tax questions

Married couples are always allowed to file jointly, even if one spouse is retired or on disability.  If you file jointly, your disability may be partially taxed, depending on your spouse's income and overall tax situation, but if your spouse files as married filing separately, you must also file and your SSDI automatically becomes taxable.  Joint filing also almost always results in lower tax or a larger refund, since some credits and deductions are disallowed or reduced when filing separately.