Funeral expenses

[oceanlovin'ea]

I was looking at deductible medical expenses in the TB and noticed that it said that funeral expenses were not deductible as medical expenses (I knew that) but are deductible on the decedent's federal estate tax return.

Just made me wonder - Only deductible if there is an estate return. But if decedent was married at the time of death, there would not be an estate return because it would be a MFJ return with spouse. Would funeral expenses be deductible in year of death on a MFJ return?

Linda F

[natiro]

funeral expense

Funeral expenses are only deductible on Form 706 (Estate return), not Form 1041 (estate income tax return.) Also, FYI, even if someone is married at date of death, there still may need to be a Form 1041, depending on the situation (for example, assets not held jointly may sit in an estate before being distributed to the beneficiaries.)