What is a qualifying widower?

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 7, 2019
2 replies
20 views

No text available

TurboTax Deluxe Online

Best answer by sirshad1

It is one of the filing status out of the 5 statuses that the IRS offers (Single, Married filing jointly, Married filing separately,Head of household, Qualifying widow or widower). Qualifying Widower is a filing status that allows you to retain the benefits of the Married Filing Jointly status for two years after the year of your spouse's death.

If your spouse died in 2015 or 2016, you didn't remarry in 2017, and you have a child that meets certain qualifications, you might be able to file as a Qualifying Widow(er) which has certain tax advantages. When you go through the Personal Info section in TurboTax, we'll ask a series of questions to determine if you meet those requirements.

sirshad1

Answer

Employee Tax Expert

Chuck691

Level 2

Since my wife past away last year, why isn't my filing status Qualified Widower???

Critter-3

Level 15

In the year the spouse passes you can still file jointly( or separately if you choose which may let you have HOH if you qualify) ... then the next 2 tax years you can be qualifying widower followed by HOH if you still have a qualifying child. In the TT program MY INFO section the program asks about your marital status then helps you make the correct filing status decision based on your situation.