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- Thread starter Nittany Ned2
- Start date
A friend emailed me Saturday that he received a $2400 check in the mail. Thing is his wife died last June. He said back then he informed the IRS and SSA that he wife had died. With the check was information saying that if the check is cashed fraudulently, a person could get up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He doesn't know what to do. I told him to get early one morning and call the IRS.
Well, if its a check, don't cash it.
But if you get this by electronic deposit, you then have a problem. Do not spend it and notify the IRS and Treasury Dept by registered mail so you have proof you attempted to return it or clarify the issue. Maybe include a photo copy of statement/check. Be very patient about a return communication because, after all, its the government.
So the checks were for when the bill passed and all people alive at that point. What if someone dies between that date.....is the estate entitled to those funds?
But if you get this by electronic deposit, you then have a problem. Do not spend it and notify the IRS and Treasury Dept by registered mail so you have proof you attempted to return it or clarify the issue. Maybe include a photo copy of statement/check. Be very patient about a return communication because, after all, its the government.
So the checks were for when the bill passed and all people alive at that point. What if someone dies between that date.....is the estate entitled to those funds?
Don’t know of a deceased person that got one, but I know multiple living people who still haven’t got one.
Today we received a check addressed to the former owner of our house. It is labeled “so and so, dec.”
She died in February 2018. There is a box on the envelope that says if the addressee is deceased, please check this box and return the check.
My work partner received a stimulus check for her dad who died last fall.
I just read an article quoting Mnuchin as saying that you should return the check but in the same article an accountant points out that the the CARES Act never included the IRS with a "Clawback" provision and the IRS has no instructions on how to return said checks.
"Speechless in Seattle"
We got one last week for our mom who passed away in November. Has her name, the "DEC'D" Then it lists my sister's name as a care of. Every article I've read says you can cash it because, as you said, there is no clawback provision in the law. I told my sister to stick it in her safe for 6 to 8 months and see if the IRS comes out with any definitive guidance. If they don't, I think she should cash it and do whatever she wants with it.
A little off topic but my daughter in college got one. She is 22, just finished senior year, and I claimed her last year on my return (even though she did also file to get her withholding back since she didn't owe any tax). Neither of us have filed yet for this year, but I was still planning on claiming her. I didn't think she'd get anything, since she is 22 and filed last year as a dependent. Anyone have an opinion on this? Should she cash the check?
My son is 24 and we claimed him last year, so he was ineligible for the check.
Yep, my mother passed away last year and she got a check. My sister checked off deceased and mailed it back. I presume she got it because we haven’t filed her tax return yet. I’m her executor and we’ve been waiting for a 1099, which was either misplaced or never got to me. I don’t ever recall seeing it.
In any case, the check was sent back.
In any case, the check was sent back.
It’s an advance payment on 2020 taxes. Assuming she is not a dependent at that time she would still qualify for it. The IRS has no mechanisms to correct these at this point. I would not cash it for the reason that you haven’t filed 2019 yet which would be my only concern.
Hmm ... I've got a 21 year old in a similar situation. We claimed her as a dependent last year and this year, and she filed as a dependent both years. Still, neither of us received any funds. I'd hang on to that cash. Stinks ... college age kids still eat and use up electricity and bandwidth, but you don't get any stimulus for them. However, be aware that there is a bill being passed around, hr6420, that would provide stimulus to dependents that are 19 or younger, or 24 and younger and a student. We'll see where that goes.
We have an interesting situation where my FIL passed away after the CARES act was passed. He and my MIL were/are on SSI and they have no other income. She has not yet received her stimulus money. I am expecting that she is due $2,400 for this - $1,200 each . I'm assuming because he was living at the time of the passage of the bill that she is entitled to it. I have no idea how much they will actually deposit. She certainly could use it.
My GF is the executor of her uncles estate who died in 2018. She got a check yesterday for him. It lists him as deceased on the check and is made payable to her. She isn’t sure what to do with it. They obviously know her uncle is deceased because it says so on the check so why would it even be sent?
The IRS has always allowed for payments to be made to assist in paying down the public debt.
https://www.pay.gov/public/form/start/23779454
Since $1200 is his and $1200 is his deceased wife, he has two choices.
1. Realize that the govt is so big and inefficient that they will almost certainly never find or care about $1200.
2. Cash the check and immediately send $1200 back to the treasury dept...and keep the record forever
For those that asked. See Q#41 on the link about returning the payment.
https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact-payment-information-center
https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact-payment-information-center
I’d not do anything at present, either cashing or returning on behalf of a decedent. There is discussion that the next round of stimulus will address this situation and the thought is that the next round will not require the return of funds regardless of what Treas Sec and Pres have said to-date.
It’s a nightmare for the Treasury to run people down on this given their issues so the thought is that the advice will simply not require return. The $hit storm then will be for people who have instantly returned the money.
My mother just passed so that she passed two weeks before the funds actually hit her account. So technically she was still alive at the time of the announcement. This is slightly different than the idea that she passed before the announcement, say in 18 or 19.
It’s a nightmare for the Treasury to run people down on this given their issues so the thought is that the advice will simply not require return. The $hit storm then will be for people who have instantly returned the money.
My mother just passed so that she passed two weeks before the funds actually hit her account. So technically she was still alive at the time of the announcement. This is slightly different than the idea that she passed before the announcement, say in 18 or 19.
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