My mom passed away in Nov 2021. All of her investments were in annuities and a brokerage account (all with beneficiaries defined, my sister and I), and a bank account that I am a co-owner of. She was living in assisted living with modest belongings, there was no tangible property to speak of. The "estate" is effectively closed with the exception of the bank account, which we left open to cover memorial services that concluded in Jan 2022. I talked to a lawyer who reviewed her will and indicated probate was not required. I did complete a probate affidavit to meet the "personal representative" requirements to file form 1310. There was no EIN setup, until today as I prepared to file a 1041. However, I am questioning if an estate return (1041) is needed as her estate did not generate any income ... other than maybe $2.00 of bank interest. Is a 1041 required?
The filing threshold is $600 or more in gross income.
See https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1041#en_US_2021_publink1000285942
Gross income to the estate would be income that is generated by the assets of the estate. In your case, you mentioned that there is a bank account that generated a very small amount of interest. That interest would be considered gross income to the estate.
Based on the information you shared, if the bank account interest is the only income to the estate, a Form 1041 should not be required.
To learn more, take a look at the following information:
Deceased Taxpayers – Filing the Estate Income Tax Return, Form 1041
@JodyBossle wrote:
Gross income to the estate?
Yes. Look at the information on the IRS site that I linked to in my first post.