How do I start a return when going from Married Filing Jointly to filing Single due to death of one spouse

[agnesstephens]

Husband died 01/19/2016 so I filed a married filing jointly for tax year 2015.  Since he died in 2016 how do I file return, married filing jointly or single?  He did have some retirement income in 2016.

[JoannaT · Accepted solution]

The tax filing status after the death of a spouse is fairly straightforward. If your spouse dies during the year, the IRS considers you married for the entire year and you can use the filing status "married filing jointly" when your tax return is prepared.

[RDKennedy01]

My husband died in Sept 2020 and had requested that I pay off his son's > $11K school loans, which I did. (He does not live with us). Which TurboTax program shall I get?