My Mom died this past April. She had a will but, because of no probatable assets, we chose to close the estate using heirship affadavits. Prior to her death and dementia, she had signed an IRS form allowing me to file her taxes. Should I be the one to file her taxes since there was no executor and, if there is a refund, can this be deposited in her/my joint checking account? Anyone dealt with this?
Here in Illinois, one might try depositing it by writing FOR DEPOSIT ONLY on the back of the check (no signature) and putting it into HER checking/savings account. I say "might" because some tellers might question it and, thus, not allow you to do that.
Again, here in Illinois, if the bank wouldn't allow you to deposit it, one would have to draw up a Small Estate Affidavit and take that to the bank along with the check in order to cash it. Here in Illinois, the attorney fee to draw up the Small Estate Affidavit might run around $250.