Wife passed, receiving survivor benefits

[thestorm77]

My wife and I were foster parents for several years, and we decided that I would be the stay at home dad. We also adopted our now almost 3 year old son in 2020.

She passed away in February. No insurance. My son and I are now receiving survivor benefits from Social Security, which has saved us, as I'm now an unemployed 50 year old with a 3 year old child, and I'm still trying to put life back together.

Thankfully, I own our home, and ends are all met. But I have no idea how to file next year, and what kind of tax liability we're facing from our benefits. Help? 

[rferreira 1]

My condolences on your wife's passing.  If you have no other income beside the Social Security benefits, then you have no taxable income.  Thus, you don't have to file a tax return.  With that being said, there might be some credits that you could apply for, but nothing has been finalized to reinstate any of these credits.  Good luck going forward.