Qualifying Survivor Status and Basin Documentation One Year After Loss

If you have a dependent child, you may qualify for Qualifying Surviving Spouse status for up to two years after your spouse's death. Step-up basis documentation is still relatively easy to gather. Amendment opportunities may exist if the prior year return wasn't optimized.

The key advantage: If you have a dependent child, you may qualify for Qualifying Surviving Spouse status on your 2026 return. That gives you the same wider brackets and standard deduction as a joint filer for up to two years after death. Without a dependent child, you're already filing as single.

What to check now:

• Was the 2025 joint return filed optimally? If it was done quickly without planning, an amended return may still be worth considering.
• Step-up documentation for inherited assets is still relatively easy to gather. Brokerage firms and county records from a year ago are accessible, but this gets harder every year you wait.
• Plan for the bracket change ahead. When QSS expires, the jump to single-filer brackets is significant. A CPA can help you time income, conversions, and distributions to soften that transition.

The tradeoff: Some year-of-death planning windows have closed, but the QSS filing status and step-up basis work are still in play. Acting now is easier and cheaper than acting later.