willingtocope Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 My wife owes the IRS about 9k in taxess and penalities and interest from 2003...we filed individually that year. She has not worked since and was drawing SS...so they basically just put a lien on her CRs, sent her a notice once a year, and otherwise left her alone. She passed away a couple months ago.So...my question is...am I responsible now for this debt? Her estate (all 20k in life insurance)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtVandelay Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 I'm sorry to hear about your loss.I'm not sure about the IRS but I am aware of a similar situation dealing with medical bills. An attorney said just to run the required statment(s) in the local paper. Creditors have a certain time to collect. He said in TN its not required for the estate to contact the creditors.Since its the IRS I would definitely consult a tax attorney. Hopefully we have some on here.Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtVandelay Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 Iowa Legal Aid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antiquedave Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 Sorry for your lossI was hit with a IRC 6672 assessment, basically it means that I was a signatory on the checking account for my workplace. If the employment taxes are not paid by a business anyone who had fiscal management responsibilities can be assessed for the unpaid taxes of the business, the IRS thinking is if you had authority to write checks you should have written one to them and since you didn't you get assessed personally for your employers taxes.fun huh?Each year we file we submit an injured spouse form because the taxes are 100% against me, my spouse is not liable.If the taxes were 100% assessed against your spouse and your name is not on the annual gotcha letters you are probably fine, the attorney told me that should I die the assessment and the leins go away and are not the responsibility of my wife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willingtocope Posted November 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 Thank you all for your condolences...If the taxes were 100% assessed against your spouse and your name is not on the annual gotcha letters you are probably fine, the attorney told me that should I die the assessment and the leins go away and are not the responsibility of my wife.That's basically my understanding, and I'm inclined to just ignore their notices.We do have a joint return from 2004 that we've been paying on for about 5 years, which I'll continue...its down to about 2k now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1stStep Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 Sorry to hear about your wife's passing...Everything sounds about right. Just to be safe, I'd recommend talking to an CPA/EA/tax attorney... I'd hate for something to come back and bite you compounding everything else... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhoCares1000 Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 I do not think you are liable. That is based on personal experience when my father passed away.I would contact the collector however and inform them of her passing and what you need to do to stop the notices. I would inform them that she had no estate and this was an individual return rather than married jointly return. That should stop everything.However, you might get a rouge collector so seeing a CPA/tax attorney might not be a bad idea either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhoCares1000 Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 The infamous trust fund tax recoupment. Glad I am not in your shoes. I hear the IRS goes crazy over that and really gets annoying to say the least.Sorry for your lossI was hit with a IRC 6672 assessment, basically it means that I was a signatory on the checking account for my workplace. If the employment taxes are not paid by a business anyone who had fiscal management responsibilities can be assessed for the unpaid taxes of the business, the IRS thinking is if you had authority to write checks you should have written one to them and since you didn't you get assessed personally for your employers taxes.fun huh?Each year we file we submit an injured spouse form because the taxes are 100% against me, my spouse is not liable.If the taxes were 100% assessed against your spouse and your name is not on the annual gotcha letters you are probably fine, the attorney told me that should I die the assessment and the leins go away and are not the responsibility of my wife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtVandelay Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 I do not think you are liable. That is based on personal experience when my father passed away.I would contact the collector however and inform them of her passing and what you need to do to stop the notices. I would inform them that she had no estate and this was an individual return rather than married jointly return. That should stop everything.However, you might get a rouge collector so seeing a CPA/tax attorney might not be a bad idea either.I would definitely not contact them until talking to a professional. If they dig and find out about that life insurance policy it will be like pouring a bucket full of blood into a shark tank. I would put the IRS collectors in a completely different category than the clowns that work for most of the private collectors.I agree he is probably not liable personally but that insurance policy may be. Just being cautious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoTheJDBkiller Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 My condolences on your loss. This may be helpful, it is from the IRS field manual.Internal Revenue Manual - 5.5.3 Working Decedent Cases Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willingtocope Posted November 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 Ugh. I'm gonna just lay low... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoTheJDBkiller Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 Ask Nascar, he should be able to advise you on this better than we can, he practices in federal court. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhoCares1000 Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 I am going to say the life insurance policy is not attachable because my father owed taxes when he died and us kids got life insurance proceeds and there was no issue what so ever regarding his back taxes. Life insurance is not considered part of the estate so the IRS cannot attach it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kutuzov Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 Sorry about your lost, unfortunatly I have no clue on tax laws,. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoTheJDBkiller Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 I am going to say the life insurance policy is not attachable because my father owed taxes when he died and us kids got life insurance proceedsMy guess is that the attachment would only apply if the spouse of the decedent is the beneficiary, and the spouse is liable for the tax debt. I didn't read a lot of the stuff I linked you to, but first of all I would say you have to establish whether or not you are liable. A tax attorney can tell you this, or call the IRS and ask them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willingtocope Posted November 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 I did read thru the manual you sent, and the jist of what I read is that if it was a joint return, I would be liable. Since we filed separetly that year, I think I'm free and clear. The IRS would try to seize any assets in her name, but, because of the lein on her CR, we bought the house and car in my name only.Because of the Iowa law regarding a mortgage is null and void if only one spouse signs, I've already spent money with lawyers trying to figure out if that applies (it doesn't, since she's no longer living), so I'm reluctant to spend more.Like I said, I think I'll just let it ride. When I do my taxes next year, I'll inform the IRS she is deceased, so we'll see what their response is then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhoCares1000 Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 I would inform them that she is deceased and left no estate now. Why wait until next April?I think you are in the clear for the same reason they could not go after my step-mother for my father's tax debt. She always filed "Married Filing Separately" when married so they could not hold her liable. It is the same as your situation.The only worry is that you might run into a rouge collector who will run roughshod over your rights and the law just to prove something. Alot of tax collections go awry on both sides of the spectrum as a result of politics in the IRS offices that you have no control over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antiquedave Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 look at the injured spouse form for filing, we do one every year to exclude my wife form my tax debt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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