The decedent’s final U.S. individual income tax return is separate from the filing of an estate tax return. The filing requirements for the decedent are the same as those that apply for all other individuals. If a taxpayer died before filing a return for the year, the taxpayer's spouse or personal representative may have to file and sign a return for that taxpayer. A personal representative can be an executor, administrator, or anyone who is in charge of the deceased taxpayer's property. An executor or executrix is generally named in the decedent’s will, while an administrator is normally appointed by the court if there is no will, if no executor was named in the will, or if the executor named in the will cannot or will not serve in that capacity. The surviving spouse may or may not be the personal representative, depending on the terms expressed in the decedent’s will or a court appointment.
Joint Return
If the surviving spouse and the decedent qualify to file a joint return for the year of death, the joint return can be filed by the personal representative and the surviving spouse. But the surviving spouse may be able to file the joint return on his or her own, if no other personal representative has been appointed by the due date for filing the return. This also applies to filing a return for the preceding tax year if one spouse died after the close of the year but before filing a tax return. But if the surviving spouse remarried before the end of the tax year of the decedent’s death, a joint return cannot be filed with the decedent. In this case, the former spouse’s status with the decedent is married filing separately.
A personal representative named by the court can revoke an election by the surviving spouse to file a joint election, and can choose to file separate returns, one with the decedent’s income and the other with the surviving spouse’s income for the year.
Decedent as a Dependent
If the decedent qualified as your dependent on the date of death, you can claim the full amount of the dependent exemption on your tax return, regardless of the date of death.