I'm very sorry for your loss. You should file jointly with your late spouse unless you
remarried in 2016. In that case, you'd file a joint return with your
new spouse and file your deceased spouse's return as Married Filing
Separately.
(You may be eligible to use qualifying widow(er) with dependent child as
your filing status for 2 years following the year
your spouse died. For example, if your spouse died
in 2016, and you haven't remarried, you may be able to use this filing
status for 2017 and 2018.)
There's no reason to change the name order on a joint
return filed with a deceased spouse. When you enter or review his or her
info, just make sure you check Passed away before filing this return and enter the date of passing.
Changing the name order is not necessary and may cause delays in processing your tax return.
If you need to edit your spouse's personal information in TurboTax:
- In your return, select "Personal Info"
- On "Personal Info Summary" page you will see
your personal details listed (SSN, Birthdate, Occupation, Resident State),
as well as those of your spouse
- Click on "Edit" button to the right of your spouse's personal details
- On "Your personal info" screen, change your spouse's information as needed, and click on Continue button
- You will be returned to the "Personal Info
Summary" page
