Executor Pitfalls: IRS Form 1310 and Estate Tax Refund Delays

The article entitled “Avoid These Missteps As an Estate Executor,” published in the Wall Street Journal, discusses the challenges one executor faced while attempting to finalize her father’s estate.

The delay in closing the estate related to a 2023 income tax refund owed to the estate in the amount of $668. The executor mailed a paper copy of IRS Form 1310, “Statement of Person Claiming Refund Due a Deceased Taxpayer,” to the IRS.

In recent months, the IRS began allowing electronic filing of Form 1310 along with a decedent’s final return. However, that option did not help in this situation. The executor mailed the form along with her Letters of Executor (called Letters of Personal Representative in Nebraska).

The author noted that she wished she had heeded the advice of the family accountant and faxed the form instead.

Delays in receiving a final refund are common in estate administrations. If possible, have a tax professional electronically file Form 1310 along with the final return. If that cannot be done, consider faxing the form to minimize the risk of delay.