Help! Discovered parents haven't filed taxes in years - what should I do?

First, try not to panic. This situation is more common than you might think, and there are established ways to handle it. You're right that Form 1041-ES is used for estimated tax payments for estates. Since you're receiving these now, it suggests the IRS believes the estate still has tax obligations that need to be addressed. Your first step should be to contact the IRS directly. Call the number on the notice you received or the general IRS helpline. Explain that you're the executor (or that your husband was) and you need information about what tax returns are missing and what's owed. The IRS can provide transcripts of any previously filed returns and information about what years might be outstanding. You should also go back to the lawyer who handled the estate. If they were paid to handle all aspects of the estate, they may have been negligent in not addressing tax matters. At minimum, they should help you understand what happened. Since the primary income was Social Security and VA benefits, there's a good chance the tax liability is minimal. Many people living solely on these benefits don't owe taxes, but the estate still has filing requirements regardless.

I went through something similar with my uncle's estate last year and discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which was honestly a lifesaver. I had a stack of old tax documents and no idea what had been filed or what was owed. Their system analyzed everything and gave me a clear picture of what was missing and what I needed to do next. The thing I found most helpful was that they could make sense of the tax transcripts I got from the IRS - those things are like reading a foreign language if you're not a tax pro. They even identified several deductions that would have been missed and helped reduce what the estate ultimately owed.

Just wanted to follow up - I actually tried taxr.ai after my skeptical comment. I'm genuinely surprised by how helpful it was. I uploaded the tax notices my family had been avoiding for months and got a clear breakdown of what was actually happening. The system identified which years had unfiled returns and gave estimates of potential liability based on the information available. It saved me from having to hire an expensive tax attorney just to figure out what we were dealing with. Now I at least know what I'm facing and can make informed decisions about next steps.

If you're getting nowhere with the IRS phone lines (which is super common), try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). After three days of constant busy signals trying to reach someone about my father's estate tax situation, I was ready to give up. Their service got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes instead of the hours or days I was spending trying on my own. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was shocked how quickly I got through. The IRS agent was able to pull up all the unfiled years, tell me exactly what was needed, and even put some notes on the account so the estate wouldn't face immediate collections while we sorted everything out.

I need to apologize and correct myself. After dismissing Claimyr in my previous comment, I decided to try it myself because I was desperate to talk to someone about my own tax situation. It actually worked exactly as described. I got connected to an IRS representative in about 25 minutes after weeks of failing to get through on my own. The agent was able to pull up complete records of my situation, including years I thought were long gone. They even helped me set up a payment plan right there on the call. I'm still shocked at how something so simple made such a difference in resolving a problem I'd been avoiding for months.

Something to consider - if they were primarily on Social Security and VA benefits, they might not have had a filing requirement at all depending on their other income. Those benefits are often not taxable or only partially taxable. But the estate itself (Form 1041) is a separate matter from their personal returns (Form 1040). Even if they didn't need to file personal returns, the estate might have filing requirements depending on income generated after death (like interest on accounts, sale of property, etc).

Make sure you look into any potential penalties for failure to file. Even if your in-laws didn't owe taxes due to their income types, there can still be penalties for not filing required returns. However, the IRS can sometimes waive these penalties for reasonable cause. Also, check if your state has separate estate tax requirements - some states have their own processes apart from federal.