Death of taxpayer

[hissyfit247]

1) Do I need to file a separate tax form for him ? He had no estate so I have not created any tax number for such.

2) He had 2 retirement accounts that I was sole beneficiary on.  One has been completely changed over to my name.  The other was disbursed to me,  There were RMD disbursements taken out of each for 2022.

[LJane29]

I am so sorry for your loss (recently went thru this with my father).  If there is no will or trust you may need to go thru probate to establish that you are the representative.  This is needed for you to file the 2022 tax return for him for any income he received before passing.

It is the responsibility of the estate representative (even if he didn't have assets outside of his retirement accounts he does have an estate) to handle any required tax filings.  You should not need to file an estate tax return (requiring a separate tax ID number) and the 2022 tax return you file for him will be an Individual tax return (form 1040) using his social security number.

[hissyfit247]

Thank you so much for the reply.  But I also read on the forum that since he passed this year I could still file jointly and just mark the box that said he died during the current year.  Do I need to file one separately for him ?  His only income would have been his social security and the money from the rmd  payments.

[LJane29]

Ohh, I'm so sorry, I didn't understand that this was your partner.  That does change everything.  Yes, you would file a married filing joint return and no need to worry about being a designated by the court.