How to do taxes for parents who both passed away in the same year.

[lisa986]

I will be doing 2025 taxes for my parents. Dad passed in Jan., mom in Aug.  They were in their 80's and had pretty much the simplest situation possible, but I still have several questions.

1. Can I use "Married Filing Jointly" for them or do I need to do something else?

2. Should I make a new Intuit account for them? I don't have access to their phone number for the 2-factor auth so I can't log in to their account.

3. Can the TurboTax Expert Full Service handle this scenario? Will the intro questions allow me to describe the situation? Will I be able to talk to a person before uploading documents?

4. How much would the Full Service probably cost? When do you find out the actual cost and when do you pay it? I saw a special price of $150 for Federal+State. When does that special price end? 

Thanks!

[NicolleR1]

If you are in charge of filling their income tax return, you can file a joint tax return for the year using the filing status “Married Filing Jointly”.  

If you are using TurboTax Online, go to My Info section. After entering their personal information, you will see a screen titled "Let's check for some other situations" and check the box "I'm preparing this return for (name) who passed away."

If you are using TurboTax Desktop after putting their personal information, you will see the screen "Do any of these apply to (name)" and check the box "Passed away before filing this return."

You must also sign the return as the personal representative and, if you are requesting a refund, you may need to attach Form 1310.

If you need assistance preparing and filing a return for a deceased person, see the link below:

TurboTax deceased parent

 Since you don’t have access to their phone numbers or e-mail accounts, you will need to create a new account. In case you need a tax expert, select the option “I just want a tax expert to handle everything for me”, following the instructions on the next link:

Full Service

 Depending on your specific tax situation, TurboTax Full Service provides different prices options. On the following link there’s a section that is labeled “Find my Price”. Check the boxes for the document that you have and the service that you are seeking.

 TurboTax find my price

[lisa986]

I'm still wondering about creating an account. I assume I need an Intuit account before I can start using Full Service. I do have access to my mom's email, but not her phone number.  Can/should I access their account somehow?  If not, do I need to create a new account under my mom's name or my name? Would I need to create a brand new gmail account first, for example, since both her email and mine are used for existing Intuit accounts? 

[MarilynG1]

If your mom had a TurboTax account she used previously for preparing MFJ tax returns, you could use that account.  Sign In with her email, then scroll down to Intuit Account, then Manage Your Account >  Sign In and Security.  Click on phone number, and choose 'Change' to change to your phone number so you'll get the TT texts.

This gives you the benefit of having last year's info to work from.  

@lisa986 

[Opus 17]

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@lisa986 wrote:

I'm still wondering about creating an account. I assume I need an Intuit account before I can start using Full Service. I do have access to my mom's email, but not her phone number.  Can/should I access their account somehow?  If not, do I need to create a new account under my mom's name or my name? Would I need to create a brand new gmail account first, for example, since both her email and mine are used for existing Intuit accounts? 

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To file a return for them under any situation, you need to be their designated representative.  That can mean executor (if there is a Will), but there doesn't have to be Will.  How you get to be appointed their representative depends on the laws of your state and you should check with the court if you have not already.  

Once you have a piece of paper that confirms you are their representative, you can try calling Turbotax customer support and ask for the login information for your mother's account to be transferred to you (ask for the account security team).   This may take a couple of days, and would probably require you faxing some proof of identity to support.  

Depending on how complex their return is, it might be very useful to take over the old account and use it.  If their returns are not very complex, and you have a copy of the 2024 return for reference, it may be just as easy to start a new account and type in any carry-over information that might be needed. 

[lisa986]

Opus 17,

Thanks for that information!

To create a new account, I guess I have to create a new email account somewhere first. If it asks for a name, should I put mom's name or my name? 

[lisa986]

MarilynG1,

When logging into Intuit.com, I don't see a screen exactly like that but I did try to "use another number" and "verify another way". In both cases, to change the phone number, you have to take a picture of your (mom's) ID, which I do have, but you also have to take a selfie. I assume a selfie of me would not work (didn't try it)! 

Unless there's another path to changing the phone number that works differently, this seems to be a dead end.

[CatinaT1]

I think with the new email address you can enter your mom's name. When you enter her information into TurboTax, you will want to check the box in the information section that says you are filing a return for someone who is deceased. 

[Opus 17]

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@lisa986 wrote:

Opus 17,

Thanks for that information!

To create a new account, I guess I have to create a new email account somewhere first. If it asks for a name, should I put mom's name or my name? 

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I agree with the other expert.  Each Turbotax online account can only file one tax return, so if you already use TT online, you would have to create a separate account for your parents' return (different user name, different password, but can be linked to the same email address.)

When you set up the account, use your parents' names since it will be their return.