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#1204681 - 06/19/09 07:26 PM Tax Refund Endorsement Missing
Michelle III Offline
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Michelle III
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 379
PA
Greetings.
We had a customer die in March 2009. His tax refund check for $2,200 was received in April 2009. The family wants to deposit the check into an account ITF account for grandkids. All of his accounts are in-trust-for so an executor will not be named as there is no estate.

Can we accept this check for deposit or will Treasury return it without an endorsement?

Help!

Thanks,

Michelle III

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#1204685 - 06/19/09 07:30 PM Re: Tax Refund Endorsement Missing Michelle III
Michelle III Offline
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Michelle III
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 379
PA
Or can we write "for deposit only deceased" ?

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#1204710 - 06/19/09 07:56 PM Re: Tax Refund Endorsement Missing Michelle III
Elwood P. Dowd Offline
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Elwood P. Dowd
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 21,939
Next to Harvey
The only person who can legally endorse a Treasury check payable to a decedent is a properly appointed personal representative of the decedent's estate. (That would not be true if it were a recurring payment, but you indicated this is an income tax refund.) While there may not be any other assets subject to the probate process, the proceeds of this check are.

Your bank cannot fix this; it is not broken.

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#1204714 - 06/19/09 07:59 PM Re: Tax Refund Endorsement Missing Elwood P. Dowd
Michelle III Offline
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Michelle III
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 379
PA
Thanks Ken! You are the BEST!

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#1204737 - 06/19/09 08:17 PM Re: Tax Refund Endorsement Missing Michelle III
John Burnett Offline
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John Burnett
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,086
Cape Cod
If there will not be any probate, a family member can return the check to the IRS and ask for a re-issue or make a claim for the refund in connection with the decedent's final tax return. She or he can ask the IRS for help in completing IRS Form 1310.
Last edited by John Burnett; 06/19/09 08:20 PM.
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#1204763 - 06/19/09 08:44 PM Re: Tax Refund Endorsement Missing John Burnett
Michelle III Offline
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Michelle III
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 379
PA
Thanks John. I'll inform the family.

Michelle

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#1205011 - 06/22/09 01:07 PM Re: Tax Refund Endorsement Missing Michelle III
Elwood P. Dowd Offline
10K Club
Elwood P. Dowd
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 21,939
Next to Harvey
Make certain they understand that the IRS will not issue the check per their instructions.

They will issue it to the new owner(s) of the funds, the decedent's estate or the decdent's heirs at law if there is no will. His heirs would be his surviving children, not his grandchildren.

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