Estate administrators in New York have a big job. It’s their responsibility to manage the responsibilities of the deceased person and carry out the wishes as outlined in their will.
After the court grants the estate administrator approval, their first task is to gather information and documentation about the deceased person’s assets. This includes bank statements, real estate documents and tax information. The deceased person may have included much of this information in their estate plan but it is common for administrators to need to get up-to-date information from the IRS.
IRS documents
The administrator can request that the IRS send a tax return, a tax transcript, payoff information or submit for a change of address.
Administrators can request a tax return using form 4506. There is a fee for every tax return requested.
Alternatively, a tax return transcript includes income and much of the information on a tax return and is free.
The deceased person may still owe income taxes. Submitting for payoff information will let the administrator know where records stand on any debts owed. Paying off any debts for the deceased person is an important part of probate and estate administration. Settling tax debt happens before paying out the beneficiaries of the estate.
The change of address of record for the deceased person will ensure that documents go to the administrator, if the administrator’s address is different from the last record of file for the deceased person.
To request any of these documents from the IRS an estate administrator needs to first obtain a Letter of Administration from the probate court. The document is also called a Letters Of Testamentary. This document gives the administrator legal authority to ask the IRS for personal information on behalf of the deceased person.