Who files for a taxpayer who died during the year?

When a return is required

You must file an income tax return for a decedent if both of the following are true: your spouse died, or you are the executor, administrator or legal representative; and the decedent met the filing requirements described in the publication at the time of death. The filing requirements are the Table 1 amounts described in the publication. The publication points to Publication 559 for the final Form 1040 or 1040-SR. Even if no return is required, a refund might still be worth claiming; the Who Should File rules apply.

If a spouse died: joint return

If your spouse died during the year, you are considered married for the whole year for filing status purposes. If you did not remarry before the end of the tax year, you can file a joint return for yourself and your deceased spouse. If you remarried before year-end, you can file a joint return with your new spouse, and your deceased spouse's filing status is married filing separately. If your spouse died in 2026 before filing a 2025 return, you can choose married filing jointly on the 2025 return. The year of death is the last year you can file jointly with the deceased spouse; after that, a qualifying surviving spouse status can apply for 2 years if you have a qualifying child. See the qualifying surviving spouse rules.

Who signs

For a joint return both spouses must generally sign. If your spouse died before signing, the executor or administrator must sign for your spouse. If neither you nor anyone else has been appointed, you can sign for your spouse: check the Deceased box at the top of page 1 of Form 1040 or 1040-SR, enter the date your spouse died after Spouse, and write Filing as surviving spouse in the area where you sign. For any other decedent, Publication 559 is the publication to read on who files and what to attach.

Changing from joint to separate after death

Normally you cannot switch from a joint return to separate returns after the due date. There is one exception: a personal representative for a decedent can change from a joint return elected by the surviving spouse to a separate return for the decedent, within 1 year of the due date, including extensions, of the return. See Publication 559.

The age-65 rule for someone who died

The thresholds and the extra standard deduction depend on being 65 or older at year-end. For a person who died, the publication says to consider them 65 or older at the end of the year only if they were 65 or older at the time of death, even if born before January 2 of the relevant year. A person is considered to reach 65 on the day before the 65th birthday. The publication's example: born February 14, 1960, died February 13, 2025, is considered 65, but died February 12, 2025, is not. Enter dates above to test your own. The same rule applies to a deceased spouse when you use Table 1.

The standard deduction on a final return

The standard deduction for a decedent's final return is the same as it would have been had the decedent lived, but the higher amount for age cannot be claimed unless the decedent was 65 or older at death. For a surviving spouse, the higher standard deduction because of the spouse's age is also unavailable if the spouse died before reaching 65. See the standard deduction calculator for the amounts.

Dependents who died

If a dependent died during the year and you otherwise qualify to claim them, you can still claim them. The publication's example is a parent who met the qualifying relative tests and died on January 15. A person who died but lived with you until death meets the member-of-household test. A head of household claim can also survive a death if the home was kept up for the part of the year the parent lived there; the publication gives an example of a parent who died September 2.

Sources

• IRS Publication 501, Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information (2025): Who Must File (Table 1 notes, Deceased Persons, Death of spouse, Death of taxpayer); Marital Status (Spouse died during the year); Married Filing Jointly (Spouse died; Signing a joint return, Spouse died before signing); Separate Returns After Joint Return; Qualifying Surviving Spouse; Standard Deduction (Decedent's final return, Death of taxpayer). Read November 2, 2026.

Edition read: Publication 501 (2025), for use in preparing 2025 returns. Dollar limits and dates in this publication are for 2025; check the current publication and form instructions for your tax year. This page summarizes the publication and does not replace it.