When a taxpayer dies, there are certain returns that still need to be filed, a responsibility that falls onto the personal representative.
Personal
Representative
Under state law, a
personal representative is the person appointed by a court to administer an
estate. The term includes both executors (appointed when decedent has a will)
and administrators (appointed in the absence of a will). A personal
representative nominated in a will has no authority over estate assets unless
appointed by a court.
Duties of Personal
Representative
Duties include
collecting all of the decedent’s property, paying any creditors, and
distributing assets to beneficiaries. In addition, the representative is
responsible for filing various tax returns and seeing that the taxes owed are
properly paid.
No Court-Appointed
Representative
When there is no
probate and no appointed representative, the IRS will allow a “person charged
with property of the decedent” to file the decedent’s income tax returns and
claim refunds. IRS written guidance does not specify who this person should be.
If there is a surviving spouse, he or she usually files a joint final Form 1040
and any other required returns. If there is no surviving spouse, the person who
files is commonly: • The trustee of the decedent’s revocable trust,
The personal representative nominated in the will who would have been appointed if probate was required, or
A beneficiary
receiving nonprobate assets who under-takes the work.
The IRS uses the
term “personal representative” to refer to anyone filing for a decedent,
whether or not court appointed.
Visit us on Thursday, October 2 for Part 2 of this series.
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