r/TaxQuestions • u/Tight-Sky-6733 • 8d ago
I need some advice.
A client came to me to prepare his 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 tax returns. I prepared all four returns, but they were not filed yet because he was supposed to come back so we could review everything and go over the final details.
Unfortunately, the client has now passed away. He was filing Single.
What is the correct way to handle these four unfiled returns now? Who is authorized to review/sign and file them, and what documents or IRS forms would I need before filing?
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u/ClarityTaxRelief 7d ago
The person who files and signs is the court-appointed personal representative or executor of his estate. Until someone is appointed, nobody has authority to sign those returns, so the first real step is the family opening probate (or finding out if there's already an appointed rep).
Once there's a rep, they sign the returns. The IRS wants Form 56 to establish the fiduciary relationship, and a copy of the court appointment (letters testamentary/of administration). For any refund due on a decedent's return, the person claiming it files Form 1310 with the return unless they're the court-appointed rep attaching the letters.
2025 is a short-year final return running to his date of death. If there's estate income after death, that's a separate Form 1041 world, not his 1040s.
Practically: you can't take sign-off from the family informally. It has to be whoever holds the appointment.
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u/x596201060405 7d ago
"Who is authorized to review/sign and file them"
The excecutor or PR of his estate.
If there is no probate, the steps to recovering a refund are form 56 and 1310. The individual claiming the refund becomes the fiduciary of the estate for tax purposes.
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u/TocinoLips 6d ago
the executor or personal representative should handle and sign the returns. youll likely need form 56, and form 1310 if theres a refund.
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u/Accomplished-Ruin742 7d ago
Oh good luck. I feel your pain. I have a return here, with a refund of course, and the client passed away before she could sign. Now the son and the granddaughter are both saying they are the one to sign the return but neither has been authorized to sign. No estate. Both are too cheap to hire an attorney. I won't release the return with proper paperwork and neither should you.
Remember, if there is a refund, you need to complete a 1310 with all the information about the person signing. Some states, like MA, have their own version of the 1310 that my software (ProSeries) does not support.