Sale of Principal Residence

[Christian]

A client's husband died in August 2021. She sold their former home in February 2022 and moved to another locality. Much to my surprise they had lived in their former home less than the required two years so she gets a prorated exclusion of the capital gain she got. My question is this. She is a widow (no children) who sold the home within a two year period after her husbands death and of course had not remarried. Could she possibly use the higher $500,000 exclusion which even though a partial exclusion would cover her entire gain. This is likely a long shot but not the first I have attempted to assist my client ? She is filing as single for 2022 which probably cooks my idea.

[Christian]

I have looked for the  sheet to compute the portion of the gain which qualifies for exclusion in ATX with no luck and I suppose will have to use the one in Pub 543.

[kathyc2]

If the house was jointly owned, she would have received at step up upon his death.

[Christian]

You  know I should have had that thought immediately and realize that the health issue I am having with a severe cold has clearly caused a problem. However, I called the client as her hearing is not so good either and she had provided an incorrect date for occupancy of the home which eliminates any possibility of tax. Thanks for the input. Oddly the settlement agreement for purchase of the home years back had no date of settlement which occasioned this problem.