As discussed elsewhere on. the board, I was married in March, and widowed in May of the year. I’ve been presuming for the past few months that the marriage entitles me to file my 2022 tax return as Married, Filing Jointly (if that one is wrong, I’d appreciate being corrected). But this afternoon, it occurred to me that Joan had assets and an income (unlike Lorita). Furthermore, I’m not named in her will. Her niece is the executor of her estate, and will (again, presumably) be tasked with filing a 2022 tax return on behalf of the estate.
So, are either or both of my presumptions consonant with the reality of US tax law?
For the record, Joan’s income was a widow’s Social Security benefit, which she supplemented with periodic distributions from a reverse mortgage on her house. If I do file jointly with her, do I need to include that in Adjusted Gross Income?
I’ll likely be consulting with a professional, but if any Dopers can check me on some of my basic assumptions, TIA.
Big picture: Your late wife’s income ended the day she died. Any income that occurred before is income of her as a live person, and any income later is income of her estate which must file a separate income tax return covering all the days after her death until year end or the closure of the estate, whichever occurs first. If the estate remains open into a subsequent year it will need to file estate income tax returns for every year it’s open.
Because your wife died you are entitled to file MFJ with her for that year of her death, provided you did not remarry in that same year. Since you are filing MFJ with somebody, all their income for the year must be included with all your income for the year on a single joint return. Just like you would have done had she lived past Dec 31. This last bit is really the answer to your core question.
Note you are entitled to, but don’t have to, file MFJ. You can file as single, and you as surviving spouse (or your late wife’s estate’s executor as her executor) can file a return on your late wife’s behalf with her as a single filer too.
Only you can determine which of those two filing scenarios produces the least total tax and which produces the least tax for you. Because the niece is involved, you and she will have to come to an agreement on which filing strategy to use.