As is always the case with issues related to American taxes and the internal Revenue Service (IRS), the assorted opportunities for surviving spouses vary widely and can be extremely complicated. In general, most surviving spouses receive their benefits from the Social Security Administration or, in the case of military spouses, the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. The IRS does not have many tax credits that are specifically designed for the benefit of surviving spouses, though a surviving spouse may be able to claim exemptions and other special dispensations that may be to their benefit. Realistically, a surviving spouse should consult with a tax attorney or counselor to determine whether or not he or she qualifies for any of the special benefits that the IRS has to offer.

Anyone familiar with the American tax system understands and marital status frequently plays an important role in how the individual’s tax liability is calculated, depending on which status the filer chooses to file under. There are basically two different status options that make a big difference: “married filing jointly” and “married filing separately”. In general, if the widow or widower previously filed as “married filing separately”, then they receive few if any benefits from the IRS since – from the position of their tax liability – the spouse’s death does not really change anything. Whereas, if the couple had previously filed as “married filing jointly”, then some of the benefits of this status carry over to the survivor, at least for year in which the spouse died.

While generally speaking the tax benefits to a survivor of a “married filing jointly” relationship only apply to the year in which the spouse died, there is an exception if the survivor has dependents. First, keep in mind that the IRS has very strict definitions of what constitutes a dependent, so you do not have the freedom to simply consider anyone who depends on you as such. Second, the benefits are confined to qualifying widow[er]s and there are strict guidelines for this status. There are basically five requirements to qualify for these tax benefits: (a) your deceased spouse died within the previous couple of years and the survivor has not remarried; (b) the survivor has at least one dependent that meets the IRS definition; (c) the dependent lived in the survivor’s home for the entire tax year; (d) the survivor paid at least half the annual expenses for maintaining the home; and (e) the survivor qualified to file jointly with his/her deceased spouse before the death, regardless of whether of not they actually did so.

Qualifying widow[er]s with dependents receive a number of benefits that may carry on for several years. Otherwise though, the possible benefits that a surviving spouse may qualify for are generally tied to the specific taxes themselves as opposed to the taxpayer’s status as a surviving spouse. For example, a surviving spouse may receive benefits related to the estate tax, to control over various retirement plans and arrangements, and related to dependents and joint property. Therefore, it is generally recommended that surviving spouses consult with a professional to determine the most beneficial way to deal with their survivor status.

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