IRS Form 1310: How to Claim a Tax Refund for a Deceased Person

The final federal tax return is filed, and there is a refund sitting there. The IRS owes money to a person who is no longer alive. Getting that money released to the estate or family is not automatic — you have to prove to the IRS that you are legally entitled to receive it, and you do that through IRS Form 1310 (Statement of Person Claiming Refund Due a Deceased Taxpayer).

For many executors, this is where the process turns frustrating. The form is short — one page — but the rules about who must file it, and what documentation the IRS will accept, are narrow enough that small errors routinely delay refunds by months.

What Form 1310 Is For

When a taxpayer dies with an overpayment of federal income tax — either because too much was withheld from paychecks, estimated payments exceeded the liability, or tax credits pushed the balance into refund territory — the IRS cannot simply issue a check to the decedent. Someone else must assert a legal right to receive those funds.

Form 1310 is the mechanism for doing that. It is filed alongside the decedent's final Form 1040 (or separately, if the return was already filed). The form requires the claimant to identify their relationship to the deceased and confirm whether a probate proceeding is open.

Who Must File Form 1310 — and Who Is Exempt

Not everyone claiming a deceased person's refund must file Form 1310. The IRS carves out two exemptions:

Surviving spouse filing a joint return. If the surviving spouse is filing a joint final return that covers both the deceased and surviving spouse's income, no Form 1310 is needed. The surviving spouse signs the return, writes "Filing as surviving spouse" in the signature block, and the refund issues normally.

Court-appointed personal representative with proof of appointment. If a probate court formally appointed an executor or administrator, and that person attaches a certified copy of their court appointment certificate directly to the paper return, Form 1310 is not required. The court certificate substitutes for the form.

Everyone else — including adult children, siblings, out-of-state heirs, and personal representatives who went through informal probate or used a small estate affidavit — must file Form 1310. This includes the most common scenario in states like Alaska, where informal probate is widely used and formal court appointment certificates are not always issued.

If you are administering an Alaska estate through the small estate affidavit process under AS 13.16.680, you do not have a certified court appointment. Form 1310 is mandatory for you.

How to Complete Form 1310

The form is structured around three checkboxes:

• Box A: Surviving spouse claiming a refund on a separately filed return (not a joint return). This is rare but arises when the couple did not file jointly.
• Box B: Court-appointed or certified personal representative. Checking this box requires attaching a copy of the court certificate. If you check B and file electronically, the court certificate must be mailed separately with Form 4442.
• Box C: Any other claimant — adult children, heirs acting under a small estate affidavit, out-of-state beneficiaries, and anyone who cannot check A or B.

For Box C claimants, the IRS imposes an additional requirement: the return must be filed on paper. Form 1310 for a Box C claimant cannot be e-filed. The IRS will reject the electronic submission.

You will also need to answer two questions on the form: whether you have been appointed by a court to administer the estate, and whether the decedent left a will. Answer honestly — the IRS uses this information to determine whether to issue the refund directly to you or to the estate.

Filing the Return With Form 1310

Write the word DECEASED, the decedent's name, and their date of death across the top of the Form 1040. Sign the return as "Personal Representative" or as the surviving spouse. Attach Form 1310 and mail everything to the IRS service center where the decedent would normally have filed.

Do not e-file if you are a Box C claimant. Mail the complete package — Form 1040, Form 1310, any W-2s or 1099s, and your supporting documentation — via certified mail so you have proof of submission.

For Alaska estates that received a Permanent Fund Dividend, be sure the 1099-MISC from the Alaska Department of Revenue (federal payer EIN: 92-6001185) is included. If the PFD was received after the date of death, it is Income in Respect of a Decedent and should be reported carefully — if it flows through the estate's Form 1041 rather than the final 1040, Form 1310 only applies to the 1040 refund, not to amounts reported on the 1041.

Common Errors That Delay Refunds

Attaching the wrong document as proof. Letters Testamentary issued by an Alaska Superior Court qualify as proof for Box B purposes. A small estate affidavit does not — it is not a court certificate of appointment. Claimants who confuse the two end up checking the wrong box or skipping documentation entirely.

Filing electronically when paper is required. The IRS will reject e-filed returns that include a Box C Form 1310. The software may not flag this clearly. Confirm with your tax preparer that the return will be mailed.

Signing with the wrong title. If you are acting as personal representative under informal probate, sign as "Personal Representative." If you are a surviving spouse filing your own separate return, sign as "Surviving Spouse." The signature line and Form 1310 must be consistent.

Missing the April 15 deadline. The final Form 1040 is due April 15 of the year following the year of death, even if the estate is still open. An extension (Form 4868) gives six additional months but does not delay the IRS's interest clock if any tax is owed.

When Form 1310 Is Not the Right Tool

If the estate itself — not just the final 1040 — generated income after death, that income is reported on Form 1041, the estate's income tax return. Any overpayment on Form 1041 is refunded to the estate and does not go through Form 1310. The two returns are separate tax obligations.

For executors navigating both the final 1040 refund and ongoing estate income, Alaska's unique assets — rental property, PFD dividends, ANCSA corporation dividends, fishing permit lease income — can quickly push the estate over the $600 gross income threshold that triggers a Form 1041 filing requirement. The Alaska Final Tax & Estate Tax Guide at /us/alaska/estate-tax/ walks through both returns and explains which income belongs on which form.

The Bottom Line

Form 1310 exists because the IRS needs someone to legally claim what belongs to the estate. If you are a surviving spouse filing jointly, you skip it. If a court formally appointed you and you have the certificate, you attach that instead. In every other situation — and that covers the majority of informal Alaska probate cases — Form 1310 is required, the return must be mailed, and any documentation gap will delay the refund.

Get the form right once and the refund processes cleanly. Submit it incorrectly and you may be waiting months while corresponding with IRS service centers to untangle the error.

See more Alaska guides →