401k deceased brother

[pprice1223]

My brother died in 2008, we were informed this past summer that her had 106,481.39 in an unknown 401k account with home depot.  I created a ein number for his trust the year and have gone through probate.  His 401k funds were releases to this account less $21,296.28 taken out for federal taxes.  I need to file a tax return for 2020 showing this information as well as the legal expenses for going thru probate with a legal help.  Where do I record the 401k monies and the taxes paid?   the total amount paid to the estate was 85,185.11.

[M-MTax]

I'd say you need a tax pro because the estate needs to file a 1041 if it received the 401k funds and had withholding and paid expenses. 

[dmertz]

And that tax pro needs to have specific experience in this area.  It's slightly problematic that taxes were unnecessarily withheld from this distribution because the tax withholding is not permitted to be passed through to the estate beneficiaries.  It's likely that the estate will need to remain open for an extra year just to receive the tax refund and distribute that to the estate beneficiaries.

[M-MTax]

An extra year is right! The way this was handled was not good. Listen to dmertz and get a tax pro with significant experience in this area.