First, I'd like to clarify that I'm not a paid tax return preparer, nor am I doing this for compensation. My use of the word "client" referred to a relationship I had with this person before I retired. At age 84 he's using Turbotax, but asked me about his conflicting situation. I did not do a very good job of explaining this in my prior question.
Simply put, his wife died in 2023, but for unknown reasons, Soc Sec and the IRS either did not receive, or did not acknowledge her death. They finally did in 2024. As Volvo girl suggested, he should file as single this year. But he received partial Soc Sec benefits in 2024 for his wife, and has a 1099-SSN. If he files as single, Ttax won't let him enter her 1099-SSN info; if he tries to use MFJ status, it creates the problem mentioned in my original question where Ttax won't accept a date of death prior to 2024.
So we were wondering how to treat this situation.
