Qualified Widow

[Pacun]

One of the rules to be a qualified widow is to have a child and to have had a choice of filing a joint return with the deceased, even if you didn't file jointly. I have thought about a circumstance when the person alive didn't have a choice of filing jointly and I only came up with this one:

I get married in England in November 2019. My son is born in December 2019 and My wife dies on January. In February, I bring my child to live with me and lives with me for the next 17 years. Since my wife didn't have a social security, I was going to apply for an ITIN but we never talked about it. We both were going to sign a letter stating that we both agreed to treat her as a resident for tax purposes and that we were going to report worldwide income for her and myself. Since she never signed that document, I didn't have a choice to file jointly and therefore I don't qualify as a widow for 2020 an 2021.  You can give your opinion to this statement.

Besides the circumstance above, can you come up with another reason WHY you wouldn't have a choice to file with your wife/husband?  Remember that you have a choice to file with your spouse even if that person sell drugs and kills people.

[ILLMAS]

Jeez, I know this hypothetical question, but if this was a real question I would refer my client to a tax attorney better and not play superman/woman.