Actually she can still legally file as “Married” for two years after your passing if you still have dependent children at home. It’s called “Qualifying Surviving Spouse” status. I was able to use this because my 16 yr old son was living with me after my wife died in 2018.
Thanks for the info - but our kids are in their 40s. My concern is how being on a fixed income, having a reduction in income, and going into a higher tax bracket might affect my wife’s ability to exist comfortably. The “kids” would help, but neither really has resources to do a lot.
For now, I’ll just focus on making sure we don’t throw money away.