Can you speed up getting an estate closing letter after filing FORM 706? Tired of waiting

9 So I handle estate administration as part of my practice and unfortunately, there's no real "fast track" for Form 706 closing letters. The 9-month minimum wait time before you can even request one is pretty firm. The IRS is seriously backlogged with these, and 12-18 months is becoming more common even for straightforward estates. One thing you can do while waiting is request an "account transcript" instead. This doesn't replace the closing letter, but many banks and financial institutions will accept it as proof that the IRS has processed the 706. You can request this through the IRS website or by filing Form 4506-T.

12 I had the same struggle last year with my father's estate. After months of waiting, I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which literally saved me months of additional waiting. Their system analyzed all our estate documents, identified some issues with how we completed Form 706, and even helped prepare a proper response to potential IRS questions. The best part was they spotted an oversight in how we valued a rental property that could have triggered further review. Once we corrected this issue proactively, our closing letter arrived within 7 weeks instead of the 14+ months we were expecting!

4 I'm back to update everyone - I ended up using taxr.ai after my skeptical comment, and I've got to admit I was completely wrong. Their system found THREE major issues with our Form 706 that would have definitely triggered additional IRS review. The biggest one was an inconsistency between reported asset values on Schedule B and Schedule G that I hadn't even noticed. We submitted the corrections with a detailed explanation letter they helped draft, and just received our closing letter last week - total wait time was only 8 months instead of the 18+ months my attorney was preparing me for. Definitely worth checking out if you're stuck in this frustrating process.

21 After dealing with my brother's estate last year and waiting 16 months for a closing letter, I wish I'd known about Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). When I finally got desperate enough to call the IRS directly, I couldn't get through after dozens of attempts. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS estate tax specialist within 45 minutes, when I'd wasted days trying on my own. The IRS agent was able to tell me exactly what was holding up our closing letter (missing Schedule F documentation) and gave me specific instructions to resolve it. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c

13 I need to apologize for my skepticism. After posting that comment, I was desperate enough to try Claimyr, and I'm completely shocked at how well it worked. I got connected to an IRS estate tax specialist in about an hour. The agent told me our file was just sitting in a queue waiting for review, but since I called, they pulled it up and found there was just one missing signature on a supplemental form that was holding everything up. She let me fax in the corrected form while on the call, and our closing letter arrived three weeks later. After 7 months of silence, one phone call fixed everything. I'm still amazed this actually worked.

8 One trick that worked for me was having our estate attorney send a "status inquiry" letter with very specific language. The letter basically referenced the possibility of filing a Tax Court petition for "failure to make a determination in a reasonable time" - not threatening, just mentioning it as an option we hoped to avoid. It seemed to get our file pulled from the stack and reviewed. Got our closing letter about 3 weeks after sending this letter, after waiting 10 months with no movement.

3 Something super important to know - if you're waiting for a closing letter specifically to sell real estate from the estate, you might have another option. Many title companies will accept a "Certificate of Release of Federal Estate Tax Lien" (Form 792) instead of the closing letter. You can request this specifically by calling the IRS or having your attorney submit the request. This form is often processed MUCH faster (we got ours in about 5 weeks) and it specifically removes the tax lien from property so it can be sold/transferred.

Just wanted to add another perspective here - I'm currently going through this same nightmare with my grandmother's estate. Filed Form 706 in January and was told to expect at least 12-15 months wait time by the IRS agent I finally reached through the practitioner hotline. One thing I discovered that might help others: if your estate includes any business interests or complex assets, make sure you have ALL the supporting documentation organized and ready. The IRS agent mentioned that many delays happen because they request additional documentation and then the case goes to the back of the queue again when you respond. Also, keep detailed records of every interaction with the IRS - date, time, agent name if you get one, and what was discussed. This has been helpful when I've had to call back and reference previous conversations. The whole process is incredibly frustrating, but documenting everything at least gives you some ammunition if you need to escalate later. Hang in there - sounds like there are some good resources mentioned here that I'm definitely going to look into myself!

I'm going through this exact situation right now with my father's estate - filed Form 706 in September and just hit the 6-month mark with no word from the IRS. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly eye-opening, especially the mentions of taxr.ai and Claimyr. One question I have after reading everything - for those who successfully got their closing letters faster, did you make any proactive contact with the IRS before the 9-month mark, or did you wait until after? My estate attorney keeps telling me to "be patient" but some family members are getting anxious about distributions. Also, has anyone tried requesting both the account transcript AND the Certificate of Release (Form 792) at the same time to cover multiple bases? We have a mix of real estate and financial assets that need to be distributed, so I'm wondering if getting both documents might help move things along on different fronts. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - this is exactly the kind of real-world advice you can't get from the IRS website!

I'm going through this exact same frustrating process right now with my mother's estate. Filed Form 706 back in August and we're coming up on the 8-month mark with absolutely zero communication from the IRS. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been both helpful and terrifying - the idea of waiting 18+ months is just unacceptable when you're dealing with grieving family members who don't understand why the government needs over a year to review paperwork. I'm definitely going to look into both taxr.ai and Claimyr based on the success stories shared here. The idea of proactively catching filing errors before the IRS does makes a lot of sense, and being able to actually speak to a real person at the IRS sounds almost too good to be true after my own failed attempts at calling. One thing I'm curious about - for those who successfully used these services, did you wait until you were closer to the 9-month mark, or did you use them earlier in the process? I'm wondering if there's an optimal timing for trying to accelerate things. Also, has anyone had success with congressional inquiry? I've heard that contacting your representative's office can sometimes help with IRS delays, but I wasn't sure if that applies to estate tax matters or just individual returns. Thanks to everyone for sharing their real experiences - this thread has been more helpful than months of trying to get information from the IRS directly!