deceased taxpayer

[lefty]

Married couple in California--the wife died in 2019. We filed a MFJ 2019 return.  But she got $14,394 dividend income in 2020.  There is no official Estate or Trust setup for the wife that passed.

How do I report her dividend income for 2020 when she died in 2019 and doesn't have an Estate tax ID?

[IRonMaN]

Who received the dividend payments?  They say that "you can't take it with you" so I'm pretty sure she didn't get the payments.

[lefty]

The 1099-Div attributes the dividends to her SSN.  But I'm assuming her husband would "inherit" them.

[BobKamman]

I would not assume that.  Why weren't they in a joint account?  Did she have kids from a previous marriage who might be entitled to some of the estate?  Where did the money go?  Why was the account not closed, or changed to the husband's name?  

[sjrcpa]

Were the dividend producing assets community property?

[jeffmcpa2010]

Oh the joys of trying to short cut the estate process!!!