In the year of your spouse's death everything is treated exactly the same as it was every other year you were married. The only difference is that you will enter their date of death into the return.
In the year following your spouse's death you can be a "Qualifying Widower" if you meet the requirements. The requirements, according to the IRS, are:
Taxpayers who do not remarry in the year their spouse dies can file jointly with the deceased spouse. For the two years following the year of death, the surviving spouse may be able to use the Qualifying Widow(er) filing status. To qualify, the taxpayer must:
• Be entitled to file a joint return for the year the spouse died, regardless of whether the taxpayer actually filed a joint return that year.
• Have had a spouse who died in either of the two prior years. The taxpayer must not remarry before the end of the current tax year.
• Have a child, stepchild, or adopted child who qualifies as the taxpayer’s dependent for the year or would qualify as the taxpayer’s dependent except that he or she does not meet the gross income test, or does not meet the joint return test, or except that the taxpayer may be claimed as a dependent of another taxpayer.
• Live with this child in the taxpayer’s home all year, except for temporary absences.
• Have paid more than half the cost of keeping up the home for the year.
If you do not meet the qualifications to be a qualifying widower then the year after your spouse's death you will file as 'Single'. This does require that you remove all references to your spouse from the tax return. Creating a brand new account will keep you from having to hunt through the return for the information that you must remove. The system suggests it only because, in many cases, starting a new account can be easier.
@chris.hodgdon
**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post
**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"
