Q. What happens if a person dies owing the IRS and was having payments taken out of his Social Security check? He has no estate and no will. Social Security was notified by the funeral home. He had a live-in girlfriend and was estranged from his children. Who has to pay?
— Not me, I hope
A. In this case, no one.
When someone dies without a will, it’s called dying “intestate.”
Normally, an heir of the deceased would ask a probate judge to put them in charge of the deceased’s estate, said Bernie Kiely, a certified financial planner and certified public accountant with Kiely Capital Management in Morristown.
But you said in your question that the deceased had no estate and the children were estranged.
“There may be no one to stand up and accept responsibility,” Kiely said. “If there are no assets, no one would want to get involved.”
You said the deceased lived with his girlfriend. If they lived in an apartment, then there is no property there, Kiely said. If the deceased owned his home, then there may be some net worth in the home, he said.
“If
the deceased died with no assets, then the IRS is out of luck,” Kiely
said. “In this country, children do not inherit their parents’
liabilities.”
2 comments:
These days the children do not inherit the estate either. Especially when Kindred Hospital holds the patient as a medical prisoner, using up all insurance. Then sues the surviving spouse for 18 months of captivity at $6600.00 per DAY. When they seize my Mom's house, will they pay taxes on this usureous amount? My Dad's neighbor down the hall at Kindred was sued for his incarceration at $8900.00 per DAY for A year.
But don't think the IRS won't try to go after any living relative for the past due amount, plus interest. And because the IRS uses heavy handed tactics, people who don't know better and who are intimidated by the IRS will answer those letters and then be on the hook for the debt. Yes, it really does happen.
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