Signature needed, MFJ, spouse deceased

[Payer06]

We're trying to e-file a 1040 (and NY return), MFJ, spouse deceased. 

On the Review Your Federal Filing Choices page, it says "Signature e-filing PIN or Date of Birth Needed".  When I click edit, it shows a PIN, date of birth and today's date for the surviving spouse and nothing for the deceased spouse (no heading, as opposed to heading with blank entries). All of the other items look correct. There is no Continue button at the bottom of the page.

What signature, etc. is it looking for and how do we e-file?

[Payer06]

I called phone support, which had no information.

We looked at the personal info section. Everything was correct. Then we went back through the filing section. On the fifth time through, with no changes, it worked.

[vkc]

Question:  I entered a 5 digit Pin (made up) but but the e-filing does not accept it and hangs up.  Also my wife is deceased (and unable to sign).  How does this affect the e-filing?

[Carl]

When a tax filer passes, it's perfectly possible a federal return with their information on it may not be possible to e-file, if those handling the final arrangements have done their job. (Typically the funeral home). I can't speak for state returns however.

When someone passes, the Social Security Administration is notified of their passing (typically by the funeral home) and their social security number is locked. When the IRS computers pull data from the Social Security Administration, the IRS also gets that notification of the deceased. The IRS then also locks that SSN so that it can't be used fraudulently via electronic means with the IRS. When attempting to e-file a return where one of the tax filers is deceased the most common error is "SSN LOCKED". So if you get that error, the only option you may have is to print, sign and mail the return to the IRS.