Death and Taxes

For those of us in the USA, tax day is once again upon us. Time to spend hours and/or lots of money to figure out how much we owe the government, even though the government could literally just tell us how much we owe. Great system.

Personally, I think taxes are a good thing. If you live in a society, you should have to help support that society (unless you are so poor that taxes would substantially detract from your subsistence). I don’t understand why billionaires are so unpatriotic.

But you’re not here for my opinions about tax law! You’re here to learn whether your dead parents need to pay taxes. And the answer is: yes.

Last year, my dad died right around tax time. Bad move, Dad! I had to file an extension on my own taxes, and I was so overwhelmed with grief and new executor duties that I had no idea where to start with Dad’s taxes. But by the time tax season rolled around again this year, I knew I had to buckle down and figure it out.

Turns out you basically just…pretend you are the dead person and file their taxes for them? Except you write DECEASED and the date of death in big letters at the top of the form? I realize that seems insane, so don’t take my word for it: TaxSlayer, TurboTax, and Experian all say so.

You can file via an online tax tool, which is what I did for my dad’s taxes. You can also hire an accountant in their state of residence, which is probably what I should have done—although I suspect my dad’s income wasn’t enough in the few short months he was alive in 2023 to make the government terribly concerned if I messed up. Fingers crossed.

This is all to say: I’ve updated the tax section of the site accordingly. I’ve also included answers to some questions about taxes and inheritances, life insurance payouts, trusts, etc. Once again: I’m not an accountant or a lawyer, but I’ve done my level best to provide the very basics.

Good luck. Wishing you an enormous refund.