Qualifying Widow(er) VS Surviving Spouse re Standard Deduction

The 2010 1040 form and instructions still maintain the wording:

"Qualifying Widow(er) with Dependent Child."

That's closer to the truth but still misleading, which just proves you can't fit all special case in five words or less. (Sounds better to me ear than "fewer")

I'm not aware of any changes for 2013, and it's far too early to be seeing the 2013 instructions.

My objection to the currrent wording, and it's not a fair objection, is many taxpayers might assume a Qualifying Widow(er) with dependent child encompasses a dependent grandchild. It does not.

The instructions for the general public for completing tax forms has used the term Qualifying Widow(er) with Dependent Child for as long as I can remember. The Internal Revenue Code Section 2(a) has used the term Surviving Spouse for as long as I can remember. They are one and the same.

(1) In general For purposes of section 1, the term ''surviving spouse'' means a taxpayer - (A) whose spouse died during either of his two taxable years immediately preceding the taxable year, and (B) who maintains as his home a household which constitutes for the taxable year the principal place of abode (as a member of such household) of a dependent (i) who (within the meaning of section 152, determined without regard to subsections (b)(1), (b)(2), and (d)(1)(B) thereof) is a son, stepson, daughter, or stepdaughter of the taxpayer, and (ii) with respect to whom the taxpayer is entitled to a deduction for the taxable year under section 151. For purposes of this paragraph, an individual shall be considered as maintaining a household only if over half of the cost of maintaining the household during the taxable year is furnished by such individual. (2) Limitations Notwithstanding paragraph (1), for purposes of section 1 a taxpayer shall not be considered to be a surviving spouse - (A) if the taxpayer has remarried at any time before the close of the taxable year, or (B) unless, for the taxpayer's taxable year during which his spouse died, a joint return could have been made under the provisions of section 6013 (without regard to subsection (a)(3) thereof).

The short answer to your question, as implied by other replies, is that no, the tax law has not changed, regardless of the appellation used.

As previously mentioned, 2013 pubs such as 501 are not normally available this early in the year.

QW is a transition from MFJ to Head of Household. In other words, if you meet the HoH rules but were recently widowed, you get to keep using MFJ rates for two additional years, then you move to HoH rates.

One other difference: for HoH, the qualifying child need only live with you for at least half of the taxable year. For QW, the child must live with you the entire year.

Thanks to Alan, Art & Mark for the responses. As a Surviving Spouse with no dependents, I knew it would be too good to be true that I could now use MFJ.