How to Notify the IRS After a Death
File Form 56 to put yourself on record as the fiduciary, then file the decedent's final Form 1040 by next April 15. Here are the forms, deadlines, and addresses — plus the other institutions the estate has to notify.
Notifying more than the IRS? See how Sedare handles the rest
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 filing among many
Form 56 and the final 1040 are the tax piece. The estate still has to notify Social Security, Medicare, banks, brokerages, and insurers — each with its own form, documents, and deadline.
200+ hours
Average time families spend on post-death paperwork over six months.
30+ institutions
Banks, IRS, Medicare, insurers, utilities, credit cards, brokerages, pensions, the DMV.
Different rules each
Every institution wants a different form, different documents, different deadlines. Miss one and you risk frozen accounts or executor liability.
Once you've established fiduciary authority with the IRS, the rest of the estate's notifications follow the same pattern — a different form and address every time. Here's how to generate all of them from a single document.
Free guide
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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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Generate every notification letter in 5 minutes — from one death certificate
Upload once. Sedare extracts every field, validates it, and pre-fills letters for SSA and the institutions you actually need.
01
Upload the death certificate
Photo or PDF, any U.S. state. Sedare extracts 31 fields — name, Social Security number, date of birth, date of death, cause, place of death, informant — using a model trained specifically on U.S. death certificates.
02
Review what we extracted
High-confidence fields are auto-approved. Lower-confidence fields are flagged for a quick check. The whole review takes about two minutes.
03
Download or send the letters
You get pre-filled, formatted letters for Social Security and the rest of the institutions on your list — banks, IRS, Medicare, insurers, credit cards. Print and mail, or have us dispatch them for you.
One $49 estate, every letter you need
30+ institution letters, generated from a single death certificate.
Federal & state
- ✓Social Security Administration
- ✓Medicare
- ✓IRS (Form 56 and Form 1310)
- ✓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.
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Pricing
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Get startedCommon 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.