If he didn't have an estate, then he would be considered insolvent in the year the debt was forgiven, in which case he wouldn't have to pay tax on the cancellation of debt income. However, you need to complete a tax return to assert the insolvency defense.
As a practical matter, the worst that would happen is the IRS would assess tax on the income and mail you a notice, to which you could simply respond he is deceased with no estate in existence and that would probably resolve the issue.
So, I think the CPA gave you good advice.
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