topic Re: Do you get money back when you are a widower in the correct time frame? in After you file

Do you get money back when you are a widower in the correct time frame?

brocksmom21 — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 12:39:43 GMT

how to apply for widower

Re: Do you get money back when you are a widower in the correct time frame?

xmasbaby0 — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 03:26:07 GMT

Not sure what you mean by "in the correct time frame." We are sorry for your loss. For the year that your spouse passed away, you can file a joint return and use the married filing jointly higher standard deduction. For the next two years after the loss of a spouse, you can file as a Qualifying Surviving Spouse IF you have a dependent child or step child to claim as a dependent--that way you still get that higher standard deduction. If you do not have any dependent children to claim, then you file as Single and get the standard deduction for Single filing status.

When your filing status changes to Single, it is best to start a new account with a new user ID. It is too difficult to delete the embedded information from a spouse if you use the same account that was used for past joint returns.

Re: Do you get money back when you are a widower in the correct time frame?

DoninGA — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 03:30:35 GMT

No, there nothing about getting money back when you are a widower.

You can file as Married Filing Jointly if your spouse passed away in 2024.

If your spouse passed away prior to 2024 and you have a qualifying person as a dependent you can file as a Qualifying Surviving Spouse which receives the same Standard Deduction as Married Filing Jointly.