Artículo Death or birth.. Death or birth.

id="en_US_2024_publink1000170819"> Death or birth. You may be eligible to file as head of household even if the individual who qualifies you for this filing status is born or dies during the year. If the individual is your qualifying child, the child must have lived with you for more than half the part of the year the child was alive. If the individual is anyone else, see Pub. 501 for more information. Temporary absences. You and your qualifying person are considered to live together even if one or both of you are temporarily absent from your home due to special circumstances, such as illness, education, business, vacation, military service, or detention in a juvenile facility. It must be reasonable to assume the absent person will return to the home after the temporary absence. You must continue to keep up the home during the absence. Adopted child or foster child. You may be eligible to file as head of household if the person who qualifies you for this filing status was an adopted child or foster child. For more information, see Pub. 501. Kidnapped child. You may be eligible to file as head of household even if the child who is your qualifying person has been kidnapped. For more information, see Pub. 501. Qualifying Surviving Spouse If your spouse died in 2025, you can use married filing jointly as your filing status for 2025 if you otherwise qualify to use that status. The year of death is the last year for which you can file jointly with your deceased spouse. See Married Filing Jointly , earlier. You may be eligible to use qualifying surviving spouse as your filing status for 2 years following the year your spouse died. For example, if your spouse died in 2024, and you haven't remarried, you may be able to use this filing status for 2025 and 2026. This filing status entitles you to use joint return tax rates and the highest standard deduction amount (if you don’t itemize deductions). It doesn't entitle you to file a joint return. How to file. Indicate your choice of this filing status by checking the “Qualifying surviving spouse” box on the Filing Status line near the top of Form 1040 or 1040-SR. If the child who qualifies you for this filing status isn’t claimed as your dependent in the Dependents section of Form 1040 or 1040-SR, enter the child’s name in the entry space below the filing staus checkboxes. Use the Married filing jointly column of the Tax Table, or Section B of the Tax Computation Worksheet, to figure your tax. Eligibility rules. You are eligible to file your 2025 return as a qualifying surviving spouse if you meet all of the following tests. You were entitled to file a joint return with your spouse for the year your spouse died. It doesn't matter whether you actually filed a joint return. Your spouse died in 2023 or 2024 and you didn't remarry before the end of 2025. You have a child or stepchild (not a foster child) whom you can claim as a dependent or could claim as a dependent except that, for 2025: a. The child had gross income of $5,200 or more, b. The child filed a joint return, or c. You could be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return. If the child isn't claimed as your dependent in the Dependents section on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, enter the child's name in the entry space below the filing status checkboxes. If you don’t enter the name, it will take us longer to process your return. This child lived in your home all year, except for temporary absences. See Temporary absences , earlier, under Head of Household . There are also exceptions, described later, for a child who was born or died during the year and for a kidnapped child. You paid more than half of the cost of keeping up a home for the year. See Keeping Up a Home , earlier, under Head of Household . Example. Your spouse died in 2023 and you haven’t remarried. During 2024 and 2025 you continued to keep up a home for you and your child who lives with you and whom you can claim as a dependent. For 2023, you were entitled to file a joint return for you and your deceased spouse. For 2024 and 2025, you can file as qualifying surviving spouse. After 2025, you can file as head of household if you qualify.