Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - Next to reopening the economy, stimulus payments are perhaps the most popular topic of conversation and most asked about subject as the coronavirus pandemic presses on. When will I receive a payment? Will there be another?
But now we've heard that payments have been made to those who are no longer with us and it's challenging those left behind to determine what the proper course of action is.
Some have been dealing with the loss of a loved one, but now that person has received a coronavirus economic stimulus check. What's the estate supposed to do?
"Obviously, (the government) didn't do a lot of due diligence when they were sending out the checks," says Esther Gulyas of EG Tax.
"I would not send it back until you get the letter, because you want to make sure you can reference the letter or maybe enclosed the letter with the check. I think they were in such a hurry to get the money out, they may have forgotten to clear the database," Gulyas notes. "It was meant for those who could stimulate the economy and not too many people who have gone on to glory can do that."
"I'm just speculating now, but it would seem to me that if a person died in 2020, these stimjlus checks are really an advance on a new tax credit for 2020, so someone who died in 2020, and would need to file a tax return for a portion of the year they were alive, I could make an argument they would be entitled to keep the check," says Barrett.