How to File Taxes If Your Spouse Is Deceased
Even if your spouse is deceased, you will still file federal and state taxes if you received any taxable income or are filing in a state that has a homestead credit. You can file the year a spouse died as married and as a widow or widower for the following years, in some cases.
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Instructions
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Enter your name and the deceased spouse's name on the tax forms. If your spouse has died in the given tax year, file married filing jointly. If your spouse died the previous year, you can still keep filing for the next two years as a qualified widow(er) with special benefits such as those given for a dependent child.
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Sign the form for a deceased spouse yourself only if no administrator or executor has been assigned. You must write "Filing as a surviving spouse" where you sign the name.
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3
File tax forms as a qualifying widow if you have a dependent child for two years after the year of the spouse's death. You must not file married filing jointly. You will check the box that says qualifying widow(er) with dependent child in the "Filing Status" section of Form 1040.
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Use the tax table for married filing jointly to figure your tax liability for the next two years after a spouse dies and you have a dependent child.
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Tips & Warnings
If you remarry anytime during the year your spouse died or in the following two years, you do not qualify as a widow(er) with a dependent child.
The child must live with you for the entire year for you to file as a qualifying widow(er) with dependent child.
You do not need a dependent child to file for the year your spouse dies.
