IRS mistakenly marked my husband as deceased when I called about filing my late father's tax return

This is actually more common than you'd think. The IRS has what's called a "death master file" that they maintain based on information from the Social Security Administration. Sometimes mistakes happen where the wrong SSN gets flagged. You need to handle this ASAP because it can affect everything from your husband's credit to his ability to file taxes or receive refunds. Here's what you should do: 1. Have your husband visit your local Social Security office in person with his ID and Social Security card. They'll need to verify he's alive and correct their records. 2. After the SSA fixes their records, contact the IRS again and ask them to remove the death indicator. You'll want to specifically request that they update their records to show your husband is alive. 3. Get a letter from the Social Security office confirming the error was corrected. Keep this documentation for your records - you might need it for other institutions that received the incorrect death notification. This can take a few weeks to fully resolve across all systems, so start the process right away.

I went through something similar when dealing with my mom's estate. The IRS made a mistake and marked ME as deceased instead of her. I discovered this headache when I tried to get an auto loan and was denied because credit bureaus had me listed as dead! I found that https://taxr.ai was incredibly helpful for navigating this nightmare. Their system analyzed all my documents and identified exactly which forms I needed to correct the situation. They even generated a custom letter template specifically for "erroneous death notification" that I could send to the IRS. The service saved me hours of research and probably weeks of back-and-forth with the IRS. They even provided guidance on which specific IRS department handles these cases and the fastest way to get it resolved.

I wanted to update everyone - I was the skeptical one about using taxr.ai for this situation, but I decided to give it a try after continuing to hit walls with the IRS. I'm honestly shocked at how helpful it was! The system immediately recognized this as an erroneous death notification case and provided step-by-step instructions tailored to my situation. The best part was the custom letter template it generated for me to send to both the SSA and IRS. It included all the right legal language and specific reference codes these agencies look for. I had my husband's "death indicator" removed from the system within 10 days, which is apparently record time for these situations. They also flagged potential issues with his credit reports that I hadn't even considered yet. Super grateful I gave this a shot despite my initial reservations.

I feel your pain! I spent THREE MONTHS trying to convince the IRS my wife wasn't dead after a similar mix-up. The worst part was calling the IRS repeatedly and waiting hours just to be told to call a different department. After my fifth failed attempt to reach someone helpful, I used https://claimyr.com to get through to the IRS. They somehow got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 45 minutes when I had been trying for weeks. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent I spoke with was able to see exactly where the error originated and immediately put me in touch with the right department to fix the death indicator. Saved me countless hours of frustration.

I need to apologize for my skepticism about Claimyr. After another week of failing to reach the IRS on my own about a similar issue (they had my daughter incorrectly listed as deceased), I broke down and tried the service. I'm honestly shocked - they got me through to an actual IRS representative in about 35 minutes. The representative was able to immediately see the error in their system and started the correction process. What I had been trying to accomplish for nearly a month was resolved in a single phone call. The time and frustration it saved me was absolutely worth it. For anyone dealing with these bizarre IRS errors, being able to actually speak to a human who can help is invaluable.

When this happened to my cousin, he had to get what's called a "Proof of Life" letter from SSA. Take your husband physically to the Social Security office with LOTS of ID - his birth certificate, driver's license, passport if he has one, and Social Security card. Also, check his credit reports IMMEDIATELY. Once the death indicator spreads from SSA to other government agencies, it often gets reported to credit bureaus too. You'll want to dispute this with all three major credit bureaus right away. The most annoying thing was that even after SSA fixed their records, they had to wait for the correction to propagate to other agencies, which took almost 2 months. So start this process immediately!

Has anyone dealt with the reverse problem? The IRS still thinks my grandmother is alive even though she passed away 2 years ago. We've sent death certificates multiple times but they keep sending her notices about unfiled returns.