The Head-of-Household filing status is the better alternative to filing Single. This is because the tax rates are lower and the standard deduction higher than if you file single or married filing separately.
Note: The Qualifying Surviving Spouse standard deduction is the same as Married Filing Jointly. Although there are no additional tax breaks for widows, using this filing status means your standard deduction will be double the Single filer status amount.
After a spouse dies, some retirees face higher taxes, but it's possible to reduce the burden, experts say. The "survivor's penalty" happens when you shift from married filing jointly to single on your taxes. You can avoid the penalty by running tax projections and leveraging lower tax brackets early.
A widow(er)'s exemption is a reduction of taxes allowed following the death of a spouse. It is intended to ease a potential financial burden on the surviving spouse and family that could result from their loss. The relief provided by states generally is in the form of reduced property tax.
In simple terms, the widow's penalty refers to a situation where a surviving spouse may experience a reduction in their overall income or financial benefits, but an increase in taxes, after their partner passes away.
Remember, taxpayers whose spouses died during the tax year are considered married for the entire year, provided they did not remarry. The surviving spouse is eligible to file as Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately.
We base the benefit amount on the earnings of the person who died. The more the worker paid into Social Security, the greater your benefits will be. We use the deceased worker's basic benefit amount to calculate the percentage survivors can get.
For two tax years after the year your spouse died, you can file as a qualifying widow(er), which gets you a higher standard deduction and lower tax rate than filing as a single person. You must meet these requirements: You haven't remarried.
Social Security is a key source of financial security to widowed spouses. About 7.8 million individuals aged 60 and older receive Social Security benefits based, at least in part, on a deceased spouse's work record.
The level of federal tax applied to survivor benefits is influenced by the beneficiary's income level and filing status. Depending on those variables, as much as 50% or 85% of the survivor benefits may be considered taxable income.
Funeral expenses aren't tax deductible for individuals, and they're only tax exempt for some estates. Estates worth $11.58 million or more need to file federal tax returns, and only 13 states require them. For this reason, most can't claim tax deductions.
Proactive Planning
In some cases, it can make sense to strategically realize income during the year of death to minimize the surviving spouse's lifetime tax bill. A surviving spouse might do this by converting savings from a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA while they are still subject to the married filing jointly rates.
The term “married” encompasses all married people, including those separated from their spouses. “Unmarried” includes those who are single (never married), divorced, or widowed.
Have you heard about the Social Security $16,728 yearly bonus? There's really no “bonus” that retirees can collect. The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses a specific formula based on your lifetime earnings to determine your benefit amount.
If your spouse built up entitlement to the State Second Pension between 2002 and 2016, you are entitled to inherit 50% of this amount; PLUS. If your spouse built up entitlement to Graduated Retirement Benefit between 1961 and 1975, you are entitled to inherit 50% of this amount.
Qualifying widow or widower
Surviving spouses with dependent children may be able to file as a Qualifying Widow(er) for two years after their spouse's death. This filing status allows them to use joint return tax rates and the highest standard deduction amount if they don't itemize deductions.
What's the Advantage of Filing My Taxes As a Qualified Widow(er)? This filing status allows you to claim the highest standard deduction—the same as that for married filing jointly—in 2024, and it is $29,200, increasing to $30,000 in 2025.
The standard deduction amounts for 2024 are: $29,200 – Married Filing Jointly or Qualifying Surviving Spouse (increase of $1,500) $21,900 – Head of Household (increase of $1,100) $14,600 – Single or Married Filing Separately (increase of $750)
The “widow's penalty” occurs when a person's tax filing status goes from married filing jointly to single. This change can cause the surviving spouse to have to pay nearly double the taxes compared to what they were paying.
A widow's exemption is a reduction in tax obligations for a taxpayer after the passing of a spouse. State rules vary, but in general, a surviving spouse is entitled to a tax break for a predetermined time frame. This is frequently in the form of a reduction in property taxes.
Taxpayers who do not remarry in the year their spouse dies can file jointly with the deceased spouse. For the two years following the year of death, the surviving spouse may be able to use the Qualifying Surviving Spouse filing status.