To have a deceased taxpayer’s refund sent by direct deposit, you request it in two places at once: fill in the routing number, account number, and account type in the refund section of the final Form 1040, and attach Form 1310 to the return to prove you’re the person legally entitled to receive the money. Form 1310 doesn’t have its own direct deposit fields. It authorizes the claim; the 1040 carries the bank details.
Who Has to File Form 1310 at All
Before worrying about the bank account, confirm you actually need the form. The IRS waives it in two situations:
- A surviving spouse filing an original or amended joint return with the decedent for the year of death claims the refund directly on that return.
- A court-appointed personal representative filing the decedent’s original Form 1040 skips Form 1310 as long as a certified copy of the court certificate is attached to the return.
Everyone else needs it: surviving spouses claiming a refund for a prior tax year, personal representatives filing amended returns or refund claims, and family members handling the decedent’s affairs without formal probate.
Which Box You Check Decides Whether the Refund Can Go to Your Account
Part I of Form 1310 has three boxes, and you check only one.
Box A is for a surviving spouse claiming a refund on a return that isn’t a joint return, typically for a prior tax year.
Box B is for a court-appointed executor or administrator filing an amended return on Form 1040-X or a refund claim on Form 843. Under the December 2025 revision, the court certificate has to be attached to Form 1310 itself, even if a copy was filed with an earlier return. A copy of the will is not a substitute.1Internal Revenue Service. Form 1310 – Statement of Person Claiming Refund Due a Deceased Taxpayer
Box C covers anyone else, most often an adult child, sibling, or other relative handling the decedent’s affairs when there’s no formal probate. Checking Box C triggers Part II, which asks whether the decedent left a will, whether a personal representative has been or will be appointed, and whether you’ll distribute the refund according to the laws of the state where the decedent lived. If a personal representative has been or will be appointed, that person has to file for the refund instead of you. If you answer that you won’t distribute the refund under state law, the IRS holds it until you produce a court certificate or other legal proof of entitlement.1Internal Revenue Service. Form 1310 – Statement of Person Claiming Refund Due a Deceased Taxpayer
The box you check controls whose account the IRS will deposit into. The refund is going to the person named on Form 1310, so the bank account on the 1040 needs to belong to that same person.
Where the Direct Deposit Information Goes
This is the point people miss. Form 1310 has no fields for a routing number or account number. The direct deposit request lives on the Form 1040 you’re filing for the deceased taxpayer, in the refund section (lines 35a through 35d on a standard Form 1040). Enter the routing number, the account number, and whether the account is checking or savings, exactly as you would on any other return.
Form 1310 sits behind the return as authorization: it tells the IRS the refund is legitimately yours to receive. The 1040 tells the IRS where to send it.
Which Bank Account to Use
The account has to belong to the person authorized to receive the refund, not to the decedent. A deposit into a deceased person’s closed or frozen account will bounce back to the IRS, which will then convert the refund to a paper check and add weeks to the process.
Your options:
- An estate bank account, if one has been opened.
- The personal checking or savings account of the person named on Form 1310.
Get the four pieces of information you need from a voided check or an official bank statement rather than from memory: the bank’s name, the nine-digit routing number, the full account number, and the account type. A single wrong digit in the routing or account number causes the electronic transfer to fail, and again the IRS defaults to mailing a paper check.
Documents to Have on Hand
Every claimant needs a certified copy of the death certificate (the date of death is a required field on Form 1310), the decedent’s full legal name and Social Security Number, and the claimant’s own name, Social Security Number, and mailing address.
Box B claimants also need certified, current copies of the court certificate showing the appointment as personal representative. Depending on the state, these are called Letters Testamentary, Letters of Administration, or Letters of Representation.2Internal Revenue Service. Request Deceased Person’s Information Attach the court certificate directly to Form 1310.
E-Filing Is Now Allowed
Under the December 2025 revision, Form 1310 can be filed electronically when it’s attached to a Form 1040, 1040-SR, 1040-NR, or 1040-SS that is itself being e-filed.1Internal Revenue Service. Form 1310 – Statement of Person Claiming Refund Due a Deceased Taxpayer Most commercial tax software supports this, and e-filing generally gets the direct deposit issued faster than paper.
If you’re mailing paper, attach Form 1310 along with the death certificate and any court certificate to the final Form 1040, and send the package to the IRS Service Center for the decedent’s state of residence listed in the Form 1040 instructions. If the return was already filed and you’re submitting Form 1310 by itself, mail it to the same Service Center that received the return. If that return was e-filed, use the Service Center designated for the address on your Form 1310.1Internal Revenue Service. Form 1310 – Statement of Person Claiming Refund Due a Deceased Taxpayer
Keep copies of everything. If the IRS writes back asking for more information, you’ll want your own record of exactly what was submitted.
How Long You Have to Claim the Refund
The deadline is the later of three years from the date the return was filed (or its due date if filed early) or two years from the date the tax was paid.3Internal Revenue Service. Time You Can Claim a Credit or Refund Miss it and the refund is gone, regardless of how clearly it was owed. Withholding and estimated tax payments count as paid on the return’s due date for this purpose.
If the decedent’s final return was never filed, the two-year-from-payment deadline is what governs. Grief and probate can eat years. If you’re getting close to the three-year mark, file the return now, even with estimated figures, to protect the claim.