Ira setlement after 7 years of death to estate

[charles garrett]

I have a client whose mother passed away 7 years ago, he was appointed executor , paid all the bills & distributed what was left to siblings -very little
His mother worked at an Atlanta hospital at time of death--nothing was said about an I R A she was part of
In 2015 the executor received a check for 16,000 made out to the estate of his mother
4,000 was withheld in taxes (fed-state)
I am thinking this is inheritance & should not be taxable to her children
How is the best way to get this tax money back? all help will be appreciated

[Lion]

It's an IRA distribution and taxable to the estate as it would've been to the deceased. File a 1041 with the income and withholding and K-1s.

[Burke]

Since you indicate state taxes were also withheld, you need to file whatever that fiduciary form is for the state as well. Any refunds and/or addl taxes will then be divided among the bene's. Have the funds been distributed yet? You say he got a check for $16K, but it appears the gross distribution before tax was near $20K.