How long after a trustor (used #SS to file when alive) death in a family trust can you use their #SS
How long after a trustor (used #SS to file when alive) death in a family trust can you use their #SS to get a TIN for a trust (SNT) within the family trust?
Answers
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Hi joecamel,
There's a few considerations to your question, including legal, which we can't advise you on and would point you towards an estate attorney.
First, when an individual passes away, their SSN remains active until the Social Security Administration (SSA) is notified generally either by the IRS through the deceased person's final tax return, or from an executor or other person notifying the SSA directly. The SSN will be made inactive by the SSA, but will allow the IRS to process a decedent's final tax return as it normally would. A certificate of death may need to be included with any other tax filing after that.
Second, when an individual passes away, their estate begins, practically and otherwise. For tax filing purposes, the executor or personal representative of the decedent may need to request an EIN for the estate of the person if there are sufficient assets or other factors are involved. This is generally requested soon after the person passes away. The IRS recommends "as soon as possible." Check out IRS Publication 559 for a helpful checklist in Table A.
If the person who passed away is the trustor of family trust, presumably there is a successor trustor named or appointed (which is a legal matter) who then takes over the filing of the trust tax return.