IRS tasks after a death, with a clear next step.
Keep track of IRS tasks and prepare notification letters for the institutions in your estate plan. Review the details, download your letters and send them when you are ready.
No card needed. $49 once per estate unlocks the remaining letters. No subscription.
Sedare prepares notification letters. Filing tax forms and returns is a separate step.
The answer
Form 56
Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship — file this first to put yourself on record as the party the IRS corresponds with about the decedent and the estate.
- File Form 56 first
- It tells the IRS that you — the executor or personal representative — are the contact for the decedent's tax matters. Mail it to the IRS service center where the decedent would normally file. Without it, notices about the final return may go to the decedent's old address and never reach you.
- Final Form 1040 deadline
- The decedent's final individual return covers January 1 through the date of death and is due on the normal deadline — April 15 of the year after death for calendar-year taxpayers (a 2026 death means the final 1040 is due April 15, 2027). Write 'DECEASED,' the decedent's name, and the date of death across the top.
- Claiming a refund: Form 1310
- If the final return shows a refund and you're not a surviving spouse filing jointly or a court-appointed representative, attach Form 1310, Statement of Person Claiming Refund Due a Deceased Taxpayer.
- Estate income: Form 1041
- If the estate earns $600 or more of income after the date of death, the estate files its own return, Form 1041. Apply for an EIN for the estate first — the decedent's Social Security number cannot be used for estate filings.
- IRS phone
- 1-800-829-1040 for individuals, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time.
Most estates owe no federal estate tax — Form 706 applies only above the federal exemption, $15 million per individual ($30 million per couple) in 2026. The returns nearly every executor actually files are the final 1040 and, if the estate earns income, Form 1041. Some states set their own estate or inheritance tax at lower thresholds.
The IRS is one part of the paperwork
The estate may also need to notify banks, insurers, utilities and other institutions. Sedare helps you organize those notifications.
One set of details
Reuse the estate details you review to prepare your letters.
An estate plan
Keep the institutions you need to notify in one place.
Review and send
Check each letter, download it and send it to the institution.
Start with the details you have. Upload a death certificate or enter the information manually.
Prepare notification letters from the details you review
Choose the institutions in your plan, check the information and download the letters you need.
01
Upload a certificate or enter the details
Use a photo or PDF of a U.S. death certificate, or enter the information manually if you do not have it.
02
Review the information
Check the extracted or typed details and provide the representative information needed for your letters.
03
Download and send your letters
Review each notification letter before downloading and sending it. Required tax forms and returns must be prepared and filed separately.
Start with your first notification letter
Prepare the letters in your estate plan, review the details and send them when you are ready.
Not ready to start today?
Get the 14-institution notification checklist
The full list of who you'll need to notify after a death — and the order to do it in. Email it to yourself for later. No subscription, no follow-up sales pitch.
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Every letter in your plan — see the first before you pay
Notification letters for the institutions in your estate plan.
Federal & state
- ✓Social Security Administration
- ✓Medicare
- ✓IRS notification letter (tax forms filed separately)
- ✓Veterans Affairs
- ✓State DMV
- ✓Voter registration
Financial
- ✓Banks (any U.S. bank)
- ✓Credit card issuers
- ✓Brokerage and retirement accounts
- ✓Life insurance carriers
- ✓Mortgage servicers
- ✓Pension plans
- ✓Utilities (electric, gas, water, internet)
Don't see one you need? Sedare generates a custom letter for any institution — at no extra charge.
What you're paying for
Built for U.S. death certificates
Not a generic form-filler. Sedare reads layout, handwriting, and state-specific formats from any of the 50 U.S. states.
98.7% extraction accuracy
Validated across 108 certificates from 14 states. Every field gets a confidence score; low-confidence fields are flagged for your review.
Review before you send
Check the details and wording, then download your letters and send them to the relevant institutions.
30-day money-back guarantee
If Sedare doesn't generate the letters you need, we refund the $49. No subscription, no auto-renewal, no fine print.
Pricing
$49per estate
See your first letter before you pay. $49 then unlocks every letter in your plan — one payment, no subscription.
30-day money-back guarantee.
See your first letterCommon questions
What is IRS Form 56 and do I need to file it?
Form 56, Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship, tells the IRS that you're acting as the executor, administrator, or personal representative for the decedent and the estate. File it early so correspondence about the final return reaches you rather than the decedent's old address. File a second Form 56 to terminate the relationship once the estate closes.
When is a deceased person's final tax return due?
The final Form 1040 covers January 1 through the date of death and is due on the normal filing deadline — April 15 of the year after death for calendar-year taxpayers. A surviving spouse can generally still file a joint return for the year of death. Write 'DECEASED,' the name, and the date of death across the top of the return.
How do I claim a tax refund for someone who has died?
If the final return shows a refund and you're not a surviving spouse filing jointly or a court-appointed representative, file Form 1310 with the return. A court-appointed executor attaches a copy of the court certificate instead of Form 1310.
Does the estate need its own tax return?
If the estate generates $600 or more of gross income after the date of death — interest, dividends, rent, capital gains — it files Form 1041, the income tax return for estates and trusts. You'll need an EIN for the estate; the decedent's Social Security number cannot be used for estate filings.
Will the estate owe federal estate tax?
Most estates won't. Federal estate tax (Form 706) applies only above the federal exemption — $15 million per individual ($30 million per couple) in 2026. Several states impose their own estate or inheritance tax at much lower thresholds, so check the rules in the decedent's state.
If the funeral home reported the death to Social Security, do I still need to notify the IRS?
Yes. Social Security and the IRS are separate agencies. SSA reporting closes out benefits; it does not file the final income tax return, establish your fiduciary authority, or stop IRS notices. Form 56 and the final 1040 are the executor's responsibility regardless of what the funeral home filed.
Claiming a refund on the final return? Read our guide to IRS Form 1310 and deceased-taxpayer refunds.
Take the next paperwork step
Prepare and review your first letter, then $49 unlocks the rest.