Magdalena Schmitz has undergone some major changes in her life recently. In 2019, at the age of 46, her husband, Roger, passed away. Magdalena has not remarried as of the end of 2020. Magdalena currently lives in Bedford, Pennsylvania. She was living in Pittsburgh when her husband passed away but she moved back to her childhood home so she could get help from her family raising her children. Magdalena was employed in Pittsburgh early in the year but left that job and relocated 100 miles away to pursue a new life and start her new job. Magdalena has three children (ages as of the end of the year): Alyssa (23), Tyler (16), and Connor (11). Magdalena would like to determine her federal income tax under the filing status that is most advantageous for he

The qualifying widow/widower status enables Magdalena to apply the standard deduction for a married couple filing jointly for the first two years after the year of her husband's death. She is entitled to file under this status because she has at least one dependent child, Connor (11). After 2021, if she remains unmarried, she can start to file as a single taxpayer with the status of "Married, Filing Separately."