How do I reduce taxes now that my spouse has died and income splitting is not an option?

Losing a spouse upends more than daily life; it can quietly dismantle a tax plan that was built for two. This reader had counted on splitting income once their RRSPs converted to RRIFs, and now that one partner is gone, that strategy is off the table and a single return faces the full weight of the income. The piece looks at what a surviving spouse can do once the most powerful lever, income splitting, is no longer available, and how to soften the higher tax that often follows the transition to filing alone. It is a difficult and common situation, and the discussion focuses on the practical planning steps that remain. The piece is especially relevant to widows and widowers whose retirement was designed around two incomes and who now need to rethink it for one.