Good that you got through that. And that the preparer could relate to how you felt.

I haven't tackled mine yet. Mark had been handling them and I made a royal mess of them last year. Live and learn, I guess.

I was 8 months late filing my last year. It was one of those tough hurdles we deal with. I am so glad you had someone that could relate. God bless. Gerald

Last year, I went in, tossed my stuff at her, crying. This year I said I would do it. Shock....I have to file with his name too, and I don't know his old drivers license number, and can't find it anywhere. Someone must have taken it, in memory. what?

Same thing happened at my tax appointment this week. The empty chair brought to me to tears.I recovered quickly,, but It was another unexpected trigger. Tax day was worse than the one year anniversary and Valentines day, It really surprised me, I was not ready for that.

I'm going Sunday with a friend. Michael started his own business last year & before that had always done our taxes. So I need someone this year cuz I have no clue. I'm glad I'm going with his friend who was also in the same business.

There are times in our lives when it is better not to "DIY" (do it yourself), and this is one of them. I am glad you were able to get that taken care of, and how lovely the preparer could relate. It may even have helped her to just have a chance to say 'me too.'

How we relate to the world in an "official" capacity is often a trigger. It's right up there with the wedding rings issue, checking the "single" box on forms, re-registering the car, changing the bank accounts, etc. Each of those can be a mine field. Certainly was for me! Ironically, the tax issue is one of the few places where you can take the sting out of it by hiring someone else to do it, and honestly, it is the smarter way to go. Only the tax professionals are completely up-to-date on the tax law changes.

Cliff used to do ours, and he didn't do them properly, and after he died I found out he had not submitted our returns. Why, I don't know. So I had delinquent taxes on top of everything else. I did them myself the first time, and made a mess of it. Luckily, the mistakes were in my favor - I was refunded an overpayment because I thought I owed more than I did! The next time, I went to a tax specialist. It cost me $85 to get mine done - which included closing both of our businesses in addition to everything else, and the preparer found deductions so I got about $400 back - she more than covered her fee!

Cliff and I had money issues before he died. They say that couples will fight over "money, sex, and the kids." For us it was the money. I was good at making it; he was good at spending it. His business had been failing for a long time and had been propped up by the income from mine, and my day job paid all the house expenses. So when it came time to do the taxes, it brought up everything good and bad about our relationship issues over money ON TOP of the grief and loss issues. Ugh! That made it doubly worthwhile to get help with the taxes.

Tears may flow as you tackle all this, but you will get through it. I keep you all in my prayers always.

Love and Hugs,
Martha

I am the tax man in our family. Since I'm a computer guy I started using a program for taxes probably 15 years ago. So since then my family knows that I have been doing more and more taxes each year. The programs import a lot of tedious info from the last year, so you don't have to enter the social security info and addresses and employer tax Id each year :)

Lol, I filed eight last year ( each kid, sister, sister in laws, nephews, and finally ours ). So I have seen all the details of the kind of deductions that are allowed. I never have had a problem with a return ( except when the government made a mistake whey they keyed my numbers into their checker software, lol ).

Those tax programs are very good, although they take a while to weed thru the selections. A friend of mine tried it both ways and he did them better than his preparer, so he always uses a program.

A couple of things that were surprising to me in the US tax code.

Funeral expenses were not deductable, unless you are filing as part of an estate. You can claim your spouse if they died last year.

There is some exclusion for selling your house if it's within two years of your partners death. Either the capital gains taxes ( on the profit of the sale of the house ) are exempt or delayed. So that is something to ask your tax person about.

The other thing that was a bit of a shock for me was that I did my taxes normally ( claiming my wife because she died last year ) and then again without her or her income ( to estimate what will happen next year ). The taxes that I would owe next year went up about $ 2,400. So I had to make adjustments to my withholdings on my W4. It makes since that you should pay more taxes since you are only supporting yourself. Sucks, I know, but I thought I would mention it :)

Bob

Bob.... what to do since I don't have his driver license number this year?

This is another bad experience. I opted to send everything to my CPA over email, not to have to go through this without my baby. Our boys must be so proud of us. Really. They have made us much stronger than we ever were.

Sandie - the social security number will be on last years return, and if you really can't find an old return, then the death certificate requires it. Funeral homes report the social security number to Social Security so they have that number also.

Bchristina - yes, doing you own taxes is a big step, but its just an administrative thing. We have more capacity that we think :)

Bob

You can file "Married- Filing Jointly" for the year your spouse died.

If you have kids, you can file "Qualifying Widow(er) with Child" for an additional 2 years. As a Qualifying Widow(er), you get the lower married tax rate - here is what the IRS says:

"If your spouse died in 2013, you can use married filing jointly as your filing status for 2013 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 widow(er) with dependent child as your filing status for 2 years following the year your spouse died. For example, if your spouse died in 2012, and you have not remarried, you may be able to use this filing status for 2013 and 2014.

This filing status entitles you to use joint return tax rates and the highest standard deduction amount (if you do not itemize deductions). It does not entitle you to file a joint return.
How to file. If you file as qualifying widow(er) with dependent child, you can use Form 1040. If you also have taxable income of less than $100,000 and meet certain other conditions, you may be able to file Form 1040A. Check the box on line 5 of either form. 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 2013 return as a qualifying widow(er) with dependent child 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 does not matter whether you actually filed a joint return.

Your spouse died in 2011 or 2012 and you did not remarry before the end of 2013.

You have a child or stepchild for whom you can claim an exemption. This does not include a foster child.

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 the cost of keeping up a home for the year. See Keeping Up a Home , earlier, under Head of Household."

So basically, the first year that they died you file as Jointly, then if you have kids you may qualify for the lower rates for 2 additional years. After that, if you still have kids at home, you may qualify as "Head of Household" which may be lower than the regular "single" rates.

I still think it's better to have a tax specialist do them - unless Bob is going to start doing house calls!

@Cliffskat - lol

Bob

I, like Bob, was the tax person in our house. Been doing them for years with H & R Block's program. I also do taxes for 2 of my sons.
I did them already for 2013, didn't like having to enter deceased.

It is very interesting that when the both of us filed last year for 2012, he had worked part time in addition to receiving pensions and SS. Last year he only received benefits up to July 27th. when he passed and he hadn't worked, and I received 46.00 less than what we received when he earned more. I am satisfied with what I received, but it puzzled me that together we declared more income and got a bigger refund. I donated his card to the American Lung Association this year so I can declare it next year. Thank you very much for your input, and again I love this site, for your inspiration and the knowledge you share. It really helps to make this journey less stressful. Prayers and Hugs to all of you.