The personal representative of an estate is an executor, administrator, or anyone in
charge of the deceased person’s property. The personal representative is responsible
for filing all final personal income tax returns and decedent’s estate tax returns when they are due. You may need to file Form 56, Notice of Fiduciary Relationship to notify
the IRS of the existence of a fiduciary relationship. A fiduciary (trustee, executor,
administrator, receiver, or guardian) stands in the place of the taxpayer and acts on behalf of the taxpayer.

What to include?

The accounting method used by the decedent at the time of death determines the
income to include and the deductions to take in the final return. Most people use the
cash-in-cash-out method. Under this method, the personal final statement should only
show items of income that the decedent actually or constructively received, that were
credited to his account, or that were made available to him without restriction before
his death. Generally, the personal final return can claim deductions for expenses the
decedent paid before his or her death.
• If there is a named personal representative, he or she must sign the statement. If it is a
joint return, the surviving spouse must also sign it.
• If you are a surviving spouse filing a joint return and no personal representative has
been named, you must sign the return and write in the space provided for signature the
phrase, “Filing as surviving spouse.” declaration as surviving spouse. A surviving spouse
may file a joint return for the tax year in which the death occurred and, if the death
occurred before filing, may also file for the tax year immediately preceding the year of
death.
• If no personal representative has been named and there is no surviving spouse, the
person in charge of the decedent’s property must sign and file the return as “personal
representative.”

Tema 356, Difuntos (no date) Internal Revenue Service.
Available at: https://www.irs.gov/es/taxtopics/tc356.