My spouse died in 2020. I was able to file joint for that year. For 2021 I had to file single and paid a lot of estimated tax. My 52 year old son has lived with me for about 5 years and has always worked or drawn unemployment. In 2022 he had NO income at all. I supported him. I put him as a dependent and Turbotax says I can file as a qualifying surviving spouse. He is 52 years old. This gives me an extremely large refund from federal and state. I'm nervous about this and want to make sure I am doing this right.
You can file as a Qualifying Widower for two years after the year of passing of your spouse. Claiming your son as a dependent gives you this filing status for tax year 2022 and is perfectly within the tax code.
you're not allowed to use the word widow or widower any more. Compare 2021 and 2022 IRS Pub 17.
if his gross income was less than $4,300 in 2021 you can amend that year's tax return as well
Thanks for the reply. Your answer corresponds with every other item on the topic so I went with it and filed. My understanding is that I will not qualify for 2023 since it is the third year from my spouse's passing, even if I still claim my son as a dependent. I hope he has a job by that time.