what is a qualified widow or widower 
the term qualified widow or widower refers to a tax filing status that allows a surviving spouse to use the married filing jointly tax rates on an individual return the provision is good for up to two years following the death of the individual s spouse the taxpayer must remain unmarried for at least two years following the death of their spouse in order to qualify for this status 1filing as a qualified widow er allows the taxpayer to receive the highest standard deduction for their taxes provided they do not itemize deductions understanding qualified widows or widowersqualifying widow er is one of the five official filing statuses of the internal revenue service irs 2 it provides financial relief for those who lose their spouses and may be struggling with death related expenses or other regular household bills using the qualified widow er status allows the surviving spouse to file taxes as if they were still married despite the fact that their partner is deceased you can file taxes as a qualified widow er for the year your spouse died as well as two years following their death so depending on the timing of when the spouse passed during the year this time frame could technically be three calendar years 1 after that you must opt for the status of either single filer or head of household because it is a somewhat unusual status there are specific rules and regulations about who qualifies the following are eligibility rules set out by the irs for the qualified widow er filing status as noted above you get all the advantages of being married and filing jointly when you use the qualified widow er status notably the deductions and income tax brackets for tax year 2022 the standard deduction for single filers is 12 950 rising to 13 850 in tax year 2023 this is the same for married filing separately for heads of household the standard deduction is 19 400 in 2022 rising to 20 800 in 2023 for married filing jointly the standard deduction is 25 900 in 2022 rising to 27 700 in 2023 for surviving spouses the standard deduction is 25 900 in 2022 rising to 27 700 in 2023 45taxpayers who do not remarry in the year their spouse dies can file jointly with the deceased spouse for that tax year after that they can opt for qualifying widow er status 1special considerationshaving a dependent child is a key part of filing as a qualified widow or widower in fact it s actually a very crucial part of the tax filing status there is often an addendum to the title that stipulates it notably qualified widow er with dependent child 6the law also dictates that the dependent child must have lived in the home with the taxpayer all year aside from temporary absences like vacations or visiting relatives there are exceptions if a child s presence is for less than a year for things like birth death and even kidnapping 7in addition the child cannot qualify if 