Anyone have experience as an executor filing FINAL taxes for a parent or loved one

[Northforker]

My father passed away February 13th, 2025. He was 86 yrs old and lived a full life. He received his January SS check, his January pension check, and he had 60K in distributions from his IRA in his portfolio to his checking account. Taxes were withheld for the IRA distribution. Schwab says I have to wait until 2026 to get his 2025 1099 . I don't think this is correct. I haven't contacted the SS admin or his pension provider yet. The pension was only $150, the SS payment was about 3K. Any guidance would be appreciated.

 

[SevenUp]

Condolences to you and your family.

While there may be exceptions, in general everyone who has income in 2025 will receive the various 1099 forms in 2026, and the return can be filed then. This applies also to those who have died or will die in 2025.

Have all his assets been distributed to heirs so the estate had minimal income and thus no estate return will need to be filed?

 

[disneysteve]

I’ve never heard of 1099s being issued during the tax year that they are for. The 2025 form will come in early 2026. You can’t file the final estate return until 2026 anyway.

 

[Texas Proud]

Sorry for your loss...

I would get with all brokerages and get all assets moved to an account titled as the estate.. unless you are able to get all assets transferred quickly... I was not able to as it took months to get the legal docs done...

You will have to file a individual tax return for income from Jan 1 to death and an estate one (1041) for income after he passed...

As mentioned, you will not get your 1099s until next year... if you do please post so I can learn something..

 

[jebmke]

I doubt the IRS will be accepting 2025 returns until late January 2026

 

[GrayHare]

If the estate is large enough, a tax return for it is due within 9 months after death. In thic case, that would be sooner than the personal income tax return. How to File Taxes for a Deceased Person - Lifeline Tax Solutions

 

[Northforker]

Condolences to you and your family.

While there may be exceptions, in general everyone who has income in 2025 will receive the various 1099 forms in 2026, and the return can be filed then. This applies also to those who have died or will die in 2025.

Have all his assets been distributed to heirs so the estate had minimal income and thus no estate return will need to be filed?

Almost all assets have been distributed to the heirs. What remains is a checking account for the trust to pay final medical expenses as they dribble in and to pay his final taxes. We also have four small life insurance policies that total 80k with a problem, dad named my mother as the sole beneficiary, however she preceded him in death, so I've got an attorney filing probate documents to list the 4 trust heirs as the heirs to the life insurance proceeds. In the unlikely event that expenses exceed the trust checking account balance, the life insurance proceeds will be held in the checking account until the 2025 taxes are paid

 

[Dalton]

I had to wait until January the next year for 1099s, including for SS. I couldn't file the 1040 anyway, until 2026, so I just made sure the providers had my correct mailing/contact info, and did it when the time came. I also wrote down all the income sources I was aware of, and how much, so that I wouldn't have to rely on my memory a year later.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

My sympathies.

Make sure an attorney is watching every step. Heirs will be watching too.

 

[yakers]

After doing MILs taxes for years I hired a CPA to do the final. It might have been simple enough to do but not something I am familiar with and didn't want to learn it and kept numbers 'neutral' for to the other family members.

 

[SecondCor521]

My condolences.

As others have said, you should receive all of the tax documents for his 2025 in January 2026. You'll get a 1099-SSA for his SS income, and probably two 1099-Rs for the pension and the IRA distribution. You might get some 1099-INTs if he had money in taxable savings accounts. A 1099-B if he had a brokerage account, but it sounds like not.

SS timing is a little weird. Since he lived all of January, he was entitled to his January SS benefit, which would have been paid in February. Usually SS gets this right, especially if they were notified promptly, which is usually done by the funeral home.

You will need to file a normal 1040 for the income he received while he was alive. The main difference is you will also need to note on the tax return by his name that he is deceased and include his date of death. Most tax software like TurboTax can handle this just fine. It is easiest to file electronically and either direct deposit or direct debit from a checking account. If you have an estate account or are keeping an account open with his money in it, you can just put the numbers on there - it is my understanding that the IRS doesn't crosscheck account numbers with taxpayer names and account names.

Theoretically if his assets produced more than $600 in income between his death and the distribution of the assets to his beneficiaries, then you would need to file a 1041 for that income. This sounds unlikely given your descriptions. Even if there were more than $600 earned and even though it is not technically correct, if everyone reports the income they received as reported on the 1099s with their SSNs on it, the IRS will be content and in most cases the resulting tax situation is close enough in my opinion. Life is too short to deal with "interest received as a nominee".

And an estate tax return (706 or 709, can't remember which) would be due 9 months after death if his taxable estate was worth more than $13,990,000. This also sounds unlikely.

 

[Koolau]

My mom's accountant (who was also mine) dealt with the taxes when she passed. IIRC it was simple as she had very little income.

I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[MdaPetralia]

Taxes were withheld for the IRA distribution. Schwab says I have to wait until 2026 to get his 2025 1099 . I don't think this is correct.

I was executor of my father's estate, who died in March a few years ago, and I got the numbers for the taxes from the bank/brokerage statements (as executor you can call to get this info). I did not wait until the 1099's were distributed in Jan the following year to have the accountant file the taxes (which as already mentioned were due 9 months after death).

 

[SecondCor521]

I did not wait until the 1099's were distributed in Jan the following year to have the accountant file the taxes (which as already mentioned were due 9 months after death).

To be clear, the final federal income tax return for a deceased individual is due at the normal time: 4/15 of the following year.

Estate tax returns are due within 9 months of death, but those are pretty rare and probably not applicable to OP.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

I’m surprised everything has been distributed so soon. When I did Dad’s estate I wasn’t allowed to finalize distributions for one year. Your jurisdiction may vary, but I thought it was a good idea since things like the final individual tax return, the estate’s return if applicable, and various assets and liabilities coming out of the woodwork take time to settle down.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

I did not wait until the 1099's were distributed in Jan the following year to have the accountant file the taxes (which as already mentioned were due 9 months after death).

Be sure to distinguish between the deceased’s final return (filed under their SSN) and an estate’s return (filed under its EIN). The former is due on the normal tax day; the latter 9 months after death (and could span multiple years).

Edit: oops! Someone beat me to it.

 

[MdaPetralia]

To be clear, the final federal income tax return for a deceased individual is due at the normal time: 4/15 of the following year.

Be sure to distinguish between the deceased’s final return (filed under their SSN) and an estate’s return (filed under its EIN). The former is due on the normal tax day; the latter 9 months after death (and could span multiple years).

Yes, I should have made it clear that I was referring to the estate's return.

 

[Northforker]

I’m surprised everything has been distributed so soon. When I did Dad’s estate I wasn’t allowed to finalize distributions for one year. Your jurisdiction may vary, but I thought it was a good idea since things like the final individual tax return, the estate’s return if applicable, and various assets and liabilities coming out of the woodwork take time to settle down.

Not everything has been distributed. The trust checking account has $40,000 to cover his last medical expenses, There is also $80,000 in life insurance that will be paid to the trust checking account prior to final distributions. His estate was pretty straightforward, no properties, no vehicles, no debts other than medical bills. Roughly $3.5 million in cash and equities which was divided equally and swept into heirs portfolios.

Taxes were withheld on his 2025 ira withdrawals, so it's likely that there is no tax liability either.

 

[iloveyoga]

I've helped several friends and family with the last year of personal tax filing due to death and I was able to use the software like normal. There is always a box to check that the person is deceased, but otherwise it was just like doing a regular return. It's a sad thing to do though.

 

[2018]

OP, my condolences.

This post has triggered another question for me. If deceased was married and spouse is still living does the sequence stay the same ? In my case the spouse is part of a trust that holds everything except financial accounts (which they are beneficiaries) and they would maintain the trust until passing at which time the estate is distributed to the heirs. So, back to my original question; would we need to file a tax return for the deceased for the year, and then file another one for the estate even though its all getting passed to the spouse ?

 

[DrRoy]

DFIL passed last month at 94. He remained in fair shape until the last few weeks. DW is the executor of the estate. We are fairly well informed on most of this but will follow for info. She has filed for probate, and is waiting for paperwork to gain control of the assets. She did his 2024 taxes for the first time to help out in March, and so gained some more familiarity with his situation there.

 

[SevenUp]

OP, my condolences.

This post has triggered another question for me. If deceased was married and spouse is still living does the sequence stay the same ? In my case the spouse is part of a trust that holds everything except financial accounts (which they are beneficiaries) and they would maintain the trust until passing at which time the estate is distributed to the heirs. So, back to my original question; would we need to file a tax return for the deceased for the year, and then file another one for the estate even though its all getting passed to the spouse ?

The surviving spouse, assuming no remarriage, may file MFJ for the year the other spouse dies. Nothing special need be done, other than checking the box for a deceased spouse and entering the date of death. The combined income for each spouse, just as if both were still living, goes into the MFJ return.

Comments on estate law I leave to others.

 

[cathy63]

OP, my condolences.

This post has triggered another question for me. If deceased was married and spouse is still living does the sequence stay the same ? In my case the spouse is part of a trust that holds everything except financial accounts (which they are beneficiaries) and they would maintain the trust until passing at which time the estate is distributed to the heirs. So, back to my original question; would we need to file a tax return for the deceased for the year, and then file another one for the estate even though its all getting passed to the spouse ?

You only have to file tax returns if there is a filing requirement. For a married couple, the surviving spouse would file as MFJ for the year of death if they have enough income to need to file at all. If they don’t have a filing requirement, then the death of one spouse doesn’t create a requirement for that year, but the surviving spouse is more likely to need to file in future years when they will be using the single standard deduction.

If an irrevocable trust is created with the death of the first spouse, then the trust may have to file its own tax returns in that year and subsequent years. I believe the threshold is $600 of income and it doesn’t adjust for inflation. The death also creates an estate, even if there is a surviving spouse, and the estate could also have a separate filing requirement if it receives at least $600 of income outside the trust.

 

[meierlde]

Note that potentially 3 returns max could be needed. The 9 month timeline is for the estate tax ( form 706),
then if the estate has income over 600 there is the 1041 which is filed 4 months after the estate's tax year ends (typically this starts on the day after death) and the final 1040 which is filed on april 15 of the year after the death.

 

[socca]

Possible federal returns:
• Form 1040 - decedent's final income tax return
• Form 1041 - estate's income tax return
• Form 1041 - irrevocable trust's income tax return (formerly a revocable trust)
• Form 709 - gift tax return
• Form 706 - estate tax return
Also might have some state returns to file.