Deorbit Plan

Worked example: the widow’s penalty, from a joint return to a single one

The same pension on a joint return and on a single return, one year apart

By the Deorbit Plan editorial team, a Berrydyne program · Last reviewed · Topic: Social Security

The household

A married couple: one spouse, born in 1966, has a pension of $10,000 a month ($120,000 a year) with no cost-of-living increase; the other, born in 1964, dies in 2026 at 62. There is no Social Security yet and no other income, and neither is 65. The survivor’s income does not change at all. Only the filing status does.

These inputs are one of the hand-computed cases in the simulator’s test suite. The page runs them through the same tax function the simulator uses each time it is built, and the test suite checks the results against the hand calculation, so the figures here and the simulator’s cannot drift apart.

The year of death: a joint return

A surviving spouse may file a joint return for the year the spouse died[1], with the joint standard deduction and brackets[2].

2026, married filing jointly, $120,000 of pension
LineRule appliedAmount
Pension and IRA withdrawals$120,000
Adjusted gross income (AGI)$120,000
Less standard deduction (married filing jointly)Standard deduction, 2026−$32,200
Taxable ordinary income$87,800
10% on $24,800 of ordinary income2026 brackets (married filing jointly)$2,480
12% on $63,000 of ordinary income2026 brackets (married filing jointly)$7,560
Tax on ordinary income$10,040
Federal income tax$10,040

The next year: a single return

With no dependent child, the survivor files single from the following year[1]: the standard deduction is halved, and every bracket boundary up to the top of the 32% bracket is half the joint one (only the 35% bracket stops short of that, ending at $640,600 single against $768,700 joint in 2026).

2027, single, the same $120,000
LineRule appliedAmount
Pension and IRA withdrawals$120,000
Adjusted gross income (AGI)$120,000
Less standard deduction (single)Standard deduction, 2026−$16,100
Taxable ordinary income$103,900
10% on $12,400 of ordinary income2026 brackets (single)$1,240
12% on $38,000 of ordinary income2026 brackets (single)$4,560
22% on $53,500 of ordinary income2026 brackets (single)$11,770
Tax on ordinary income$17,570
Federal income tax$17,570

Both years use the 2026 amounts, as the test case does (it assumes no inflation), so the only difference between the two tables is the filing status. On a real 2027 return the brackets and deduction would be indexed slightly upward.

What to notice

  • The same income owes $7,530 more, 75% above the joint return.
  • On the joint return the top dollar is taxed at 12%; on the single return at 22%.
  • To owe no more than the joint return’s $10,040, the survivor’s income would have to fall to $85,772, $34,228 less.

What would change this

  • An older survivor. At 66 the survivor would add the single additional deduction of $2,050 and, through 2028, a senior deduction of $3,300 after its phase-out; the single return would owe $16,393.
  • Social Security. Once benefits start, the single base amounts for the taxable-benefits worksheet are lower than the joint ones, so a larger share of the survivor’s benefit can become taxable as well.
  • Medicare premiums. From 65, once the surcharge is based on a single return (two years after the first one is filed), it uses the single table, whose first threshold is $109,000 against $218,000 on a joint return[3].
  • A dependent child living at home can allow the qualifying surviving spouse status for the two years after the death, with joint rates and the joint standard deduction[1]; the simulator does not model it.

See it over a full plan

Load the demo couple with one spouse passing at 80 and see the filing status, brackets and tax change the year after. Open it in the simulator →

If you already have a saved plan, the link only takes you to the right panel; your plan is not changed.

These examples show how the rules work. They are not financial, tax or investment advice. Real returns have details these examples leave out, so check the IRS instructions or ask a tax professional before you act. See the disclaimer.

Sources

Every threshold, rate and amount above is a figure the simulator uses. The sources page lists each one with its official source and the date we checked it, and the rule links in the tables go to the matching entry there.