Estates and Medical Expenses

[sali]

I have a client age 84. He has a son age 50. The son is totally disabled. Both live in a nursing home. The client can completely take care of himself, but the son cannot. The son has 24-hour care at the nursing home. They have separate rooms. The client pays the nursing home bills for the son. The client dies in July,2008, but the estate continues to pay for the son's nursing home bills. This is the son's only source of funds. The son is claimed as a dependent on the client's tax return because the client provides 100% of his care. Can the payments to the nursing home made after the client's death from the estate on behalf of the son be claimed as a medical deduction on the final return for the deceased client?

[Burke]

Can the payments to the nursing home made after the client's death from the estate on behalf of the son be claimed as a medical deduction on the final return for the deceased client?

No. That rule is for the decedent's medical expenses.

In the case of the son, what does the father's will say about his care? Is he the only heir and beneficiary? Did the father set up a trust for the son? The son's medical expenses may be paid by the estate or trust depending on the answer to these questions, but they would not be a deduction by the estate. They would probably be treated as a distribution to the son from the estate, and the son would deduct them on his own 1040 if he had to file.