Qualifying for surviving spouse status

lunacat — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 20:55:35 GMT

My husband past away in 2023, the filing status I used for 2023 is Married filing Joint. For 2024 tax, I filed under Qualifying Surviving Spouse. I have a child who is in graduate school full time, he is 25 years old and has income over 6K. He lived with me all of 2025. I will not claim him as a dependent. However, when I run TurboTax, it thinks that I can still use the Qualifying Surviving Spouse status through my son. Is this correct? Turbo tax knows his age and he is not disabled. From what I understand, I should file Single. Am I right?

Re: Qualifying for surviving spouse status

DoninGA — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 21:06:16 GMT

TurboTax is correct.

IRS Publication 501, Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information - https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf#page=10

Eligibility rules.

You are eligible to file your 2025 return as a qualifying surviving spouse if you meet all the following tests.
1. You were entitled to file a joint return with your spouse for the year your spouse died. It doesn’t matter whether you actually filed a joint return.

2. Your spouse died in 2023 or 2024 and you didn’t remarry before the end of 2025.
3. You have a child or stepchild (not a foster child) whom you can claim as a dependent or could claim as a dependent except that, for 2025:
a. The child had gross income of $5,200 or more,
b. The child filed a joint return, or
c. You could be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return.
If the child isn’t claimed as your dependent in the Dependents section on
Form 1040 or 1040-SR, enter the child’s name in the entry space below the filing status checkboxes.

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Qualifying for surviving spouse status

Re: Qualifying for surviving spouse status