What Issues Should I Consider If My Spouse Passed Away?

Estate settlement comes first structurally, even if it is not the first thing on your mind. If your spouse named you executor, you will likely work with a probate attorney, and if there was no will, a family member typically petitions the court to be appointed and the estate follows the state's intestate succession rules, which in Arizona has specific community property implications for a surviving spouse. Every account and asset titled solely or jointly in your spouse's name will need ownership updated, from bank and brokerage accounts to the car title and the home.

The federal estate tax exemption for 2026 is $15 million per person, and $30 million for a married couple if none of it was used during life, so most households will not owe federal estate tax. That does not mean the paperwork can be skipped. Filing Form 706 within the deadline, generally nine months from death with a six month extension available, or within five years if the sole purpose is electing portability, preserves your late spouse's unused exemption for your own estate later. Skipping this filing because you assume no tax is due is one of the most expensive administrative mistakes a surviving spouse can make, because that unused exemption cannot be recovered once the window closes.

On the tax return itself, you can generally continue to file as Married Filing Jointly for the tax year your spouse died, which usually produces a better result than filing separately. If you have a dependent child, Qualifying Surviving Spouse status extends MFJ-equivalent tax brackets and the standard deduction for up to two additional tax years, which is a benefit worth confirming with whoever prepares your return rather than defaulting to Single or Head of Household.

Retirement accounts have their own rules that do not wait for the estate to settle. If your spouse had already started required minimum distributions, or was taking RMDs from an account they themselves inherited, any remaining RMD for the year of death generally must still be satisfied by the beneficiary before year end. If you are inheriting your spouse's IRA and you are older than they were, electing under SECURE 2.0 to be treated as your deceased spouse for RMD purposes can sometimes delay when your own distributions must begin, compared to treating the account as your own outright. Which election is better depends on your age relative to your spouse's, and it is not reversible once made, so this is a decision to make with a planner rather than a form to fill out quickly.

On the investment side, look for anything that does not resolve itself automatically: stock options, restricted stock units, or grants tied to your spouse's employment, a business interest that may need a succession or sale plan, and any annuities or illiquid holdings whose beneficiary options need review before a default election locks in. Take a fresh look at your own investment objectives and risk tolerance too. A portfolio built around two incomes and two risk tolerances does not automatically make sense for one.

Insurance and benefits are frequently under-claimed simply because no one goes looking. Check for group life insurance or a death benefit through your spouse's employer, veteran's benefits if your spouse served, and any accidental death provisions if the death was accidental or work related, which can include worker's compensation. If you have a minor child or a child with a permanent disability, Social Security survivor benefits may be available for the child in addition to any benefit you receive. Reviewing your own Social Security survivor benefit eligibility is a separate and important step on its own.

On property, a home owned jointly generally receives a step-up in basis on your spouse's share at death, which can significantly reduce the taxable gain if you later sell, and Arizona's community property rules can extend that step-up to the entire property rather than just half. If you sell the home within two years of the date of death and otherwise qualify, you can use the full $500,000 exclusion rather than the $250,000 single filer amount, a window worth being aware of if a sale is likely.

Do not overlook property that has not been formally identified yet: unused credit card points or airline miles are sometimes transferable, safe deposit boxes require following probate rules before opening, and state unclaimed property databases regularly turn up old accounts and refunds. Digital assets, photos, financial logins, and accounts, are easy to lose entirely if no one has access, and are worth securing early.

Finally, protect your identity and update your own plan. Notify credit bureaus, cancel or transfer your spouse's accounts, driver's license, and email, and update your own will, beneficiary designations, and powers of attorney, since many people forget that their own estate plan named their spouse as the primary decision maker.

Do not treat every item on this list as urgent. The genuinely time sensitive items are the Form 706 portability deadline, any remaining RMD due by year end, the two year window for the home sale exclusion, and the nine month disclaimer deadline if you are considering redirecting assets to other beneficiaries. Everything else can be done carefully rather than quickly.

Get the portability filing decision in front of a professional even if you are confident no estate tax is owed. The downside of filing Form 706 unnecessarily is modest paperwork. The downside of not filing when you should have is a permanently lost exemption that cannot be recreated later.

Before making an irreversible election on an inherited IRA, get the SECURE 2.0 surviving spouse election analyzed against your specific age and your spouse's age. This single decision affects when your RMDs start for the rest of your life.

If a home sale is likely in the near term, know your two year clock from the date of death for the full $500,000 exclusion. Waiting past that window without realizing it costs real tax dollars on no benefit.

Revisit your own estate plan and beneficiary designations in the first few months. If your spouse was named as your agent, executor, or primary beneficiary, those documents may now point to someone who cannot serve that role.

If Social Security survivor benefits are available to you or a dependent child, claiming strategy matters. The timing interacts with your own retirement benefit in ways that are easy to get wrong without running the numbers.

• Assuming that because no federal estate tax is owed, no estate tax return needs to be filed, and losing the portability election as a result.
• Electing to treat an inherited IRA as your own without checking whether the SECURE 2.0 deceased spouse election would have delayed your RMDs longer.
• Missing the two year window on the home sale exclusion and paying tax on $250,000 of gain that could have been excluded.
• Failing to satisfy a remaining year-of-death RMD on behalf of the deceased spouse, which triggers an excise tax on the missed amount.
• Leaving beneficiary designations, wills, and powers of attorney unchanged for years after the death, so they still name a spouse who has passed away.
• Not checking Social Security survivor benefit eligibility at all, assuming it either does not apply or will be handled automatically.
• Overlooking employer-provided group life insurance, veteran's benefits, or accidental death provisions simply because no one thought to ask.
• Making major investment or business decisions in the first few weeks under emotional strain, when most of these decisions can wait for a clearer head.