# Who is required to pay a deceased parent's tax bill?

**URL:** <https://community.clark.com/t/who-is-required-to-pay-a-deceased-parents-tax-bill/4725>\
**Category:** Taxes\
**Created:** [March 20, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/who-is-required-to-pay-a-deceased-parents-tax-bill/4725 "2024-03-20T19:09:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![lisa5678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lisa5678](https://community.clark.com/u/lisa5678)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2024, 10:14pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/who-is-required-to-pay-a-deceased-parents-tax-bill/4725/21 "2024-05-05T22:14:23Z")

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> [@robertpri](#):
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> I have bled my IRA’s down over the years, but still low six digits. I will suggest son deplete them at once, and pay the tax burden, and not face yearly headaches. His choice.

Good idea. I wish I had taken a lump sum, paid all the tax then (and I was in a no income tax state at the time), and invested it in an after-tax account. Then I could pay CG tax on the earnings, not ordinary income. Oh well, too late now.

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**Author:** ![robertpri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@robertpri](https://community.clark.com/u/robertpri)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2024, 10:37pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/who-is-required-to-pay-a-deceased-parents-tax-bill/4725/22 "2024-05-05T22:37:20Z")

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> [@lisa5678](#):
>
> Oh well, too late now.

That is the story of my life… 😬

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**Author:** ![c200ns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/fbc32d/32.png) [@c200ns](https://community.clark.com/u/c200ns)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 1:18am UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/who-is-required-to-pay-a-deceased-parents-tax-bill/4725/23 "2024-05-06T01:18:44Z")

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I messed up on my message, United has a former Continental QC Inspector still working at about 88 years old. I couldn’t believe it.

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**Author:** ![robertpri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@robertpri](https://community.clark.com/u/robertpri)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 1:24am UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/who-is-required-to-pay-a-deceased-parents-tax-bill/4725/24 "2024-05-06T01:24:06Z")

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> [@c200ns](#):
>
> Continental QC Inspector still working at about 88 years old.

Better man than me…! [or more broke?]

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**Author:** ![charlieg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@charlieg](https://community.clark.com/u/charlieg)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2026, 6:30pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/who-is-required-to-pay-a-deceased-parents-tax-bill/4725/25 "2026-04-29T18:30:11Z")

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Robert - still dealing with my mother’s estate, but my mom passed in NC, I live in GA, and I see you are in CA. Likely some of the rules are different. Some thoughts and recommendations from my painful experience:

1. Your son or anyone else you completely trust need to be COOWNERS of all accounts with assets: checking, savings, credit cards, loans, etc. I thought my mom was squared away with a will and me with POA. The will helps, the POA is only useful when the person is alive. I found myself locked out of her accounts.

2. Your son and you need to go to California’s probate court website and read. A lawyer will happily bill you until you run out of money (or your estate does). You need to know a little to detect BS.

3. The administrator nor executor provide any funds, so if the attorney asks for a retainer fee, find another attorney.

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