Filing Tax Returns for a Deceased Person

In the United States, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires both an individual tax return and an estate tax return for persons who died within that calendar year.

The date of a person’s death determines when his individual tax liability becomes the liability of his estate. Until his estate is settled in the probate courts (if necessary) or otherwise distributed, all income generated must be reported to the IRS.

A legal representative such as an executor or administrator is responsible for filing all the required tax returns. A surviving spouse can file a joint return for the year of death if no executor or administrator has been appointed, and if the deceased had not already filed a separate return. A surviving spouse cannot file a joint return if he has remarried before the end of that calendar year or was a nonresident alien at any time during the tax year.

An administrator or executor can revoke a joint return by filing a separate return for the deceased. If a joint return is filed by a surviving spouse and the estate cannot pay its share of the tax liability, the full amount must be paid by the spouse. Surviving spouses who are also executors must sign the return twice, once as executor and once as surviving spouse.