The Widow’s Tax Shift: What Happens to Your Taxes After Your Spouse Passes Away with Allen Sakon

About this episode

This episode discusses the changes in tax situations after the loss of a spouse, providing insights on filing status, adjusted gross income, and survivor benefits.

Taxes. Filing status. Adjusted gross income. Capital gains. Just reading those words can make you want to close the tab and deal with it “later.” But here’s the truth: taxes change after widowhood. Sometimes in ways no one warns you about. Filing status shifts. Income is calculated differently. Survivor benefits can become taxable. And all of it is happening while you’re navigating one of the hardest transitions of your life. In this episode, Stacy Francis and Allen Sakkon walk through what really happens to your tax situation after the loss of a spouse - in plain language - so you can feel more confident, ask better questions, and avoid costly surprises. You’ll hear them discuss: How your filing status works in the year your spouse passes, and what changes in the years that follow (including qualifying surviving spouse and head of household) Why your adjusted gross income (AGI) is such a powerful number and how it affects Social Security taxation, Medicare premiums, and eligibility for credits and deductions When and why Social Security survivor benefits become partially taxable and how timing major financial decisions can help What cost basis means, how the step-up in basis…

People in this episode

Host: Stacy Francis

Guest: Allen Sakon

Topics covered

• taxes
• widowhood
• filing status
• adjusted gross income
• capital gains
• survivor benefits

Keywords

• taxes
• widowhood
• filing status
• adjusted gross income
• capital gains
• survivor benefits
• deductions

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Social Security, Medicare

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