You are correct that a deduction does not go on your mother's final tax return because your mother did not make the charitable contribution. It also can't be deducted on an estate income tax return because only charitable contributions specified in your mother's will are deductible on Form 1041. The only way anyone gets a deduction would be if the items were distributed to an estate beneficiary, making the estate beneficiary the owner, and the estate beneficiary then makes the charitable contribution, in which case the beneficiary can claim a charitable contribution on their individual tax return.
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