LP60 Notice: The IRS Asks About a Person Who Has Died

What the LP60 notice asks for

The IRS page for this notice says: “This notice requests information about a deceased taxpayer to help us resolve a federal tax matter.” The Internal Revenue Manual (IRM), the IRS’s staff rulebook, lists the LP60 among the letters the IRS sends to third parties, people other than the taxpayer, and titles it an information request for a deceased taxpayer. The IRM tells staff to add “Estate Of” or “(Deceased)” to the name line and to address the letter in care of the executor or other fiduciary when they know one, which is often why it reaches a relative.

Form 15107, the form that comes with the notice, asks for the person’s dates of birth and death, where they lived and where they died, and contact details for a surviving spouse and for the executor or personal representative. It asks whether anyone opened a probate case, the court process that settles an estate, and it asks you to list what the person owned on the date of death, such as bank accounts, stocks, bonds, real estate or personal property. It also asks for a copy of the death certificate if you have one.

How to answer

The IRS page gives two ways. Complete Form 15107, detach the notice stub, and return both in the envelope provided. Or call the number at the top of the notice; the form itself offers the same phone option. The IRS page asks you to “respond within 30 days from the date of the notice.” Form 15107 asks for a copy of the death certificate only if one is available, so do not hold your reply while you look for it.

Answer what you know, and say so plainly when you do not know something. The IRS page also lists a Low Income Taxpayer Clinic and the Taxpayer Advocate Service for help; our Taxpayer Advocate qualifier checks whether a case fits what that office takes on.

Why the IRS asks

The IRS’s collection unit works accounts where a taxpayer died while owing tax or with returns still open. IRM 5.19.5.7.4.2.2 tells staff to issue the LP60 “when the date of death is within 5 years,” as one step to find out about property, the estate and any probate case.

The IRM names who the IRS looks to for payment: the estate, and a “liable surviving party,” such as a spouse who filed a joint return with the person who died. It also sets a limit: “The IRS cannot levy on property in control of the probate court.” If a probate case is open, the IRM sends the case to an IRS advisory office to decide whether to file a claim in that court, so the court location and docket number on Form 15107 matter.

If neither the estate nor a liable survivor can pay, the IRM lets staff close the account as currently not collectible, a status that pauses collection. If you are a surviving spouse on a joint return, our collection alternatives router compares that status with the other ways to resolve a balance.

Who can speak for the person who died

A power of attorney ends at death. IRM 5.19.1.5.3 says an authorization on Form 2848 or Form 8821 “expires with the death of the taxpayer.” The executor or administrator acts in the person’s place and may sign a new authorization.

The same section tells staff to ask for Form 56, Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship, when they need proof that someone acts as executor or administrator. If you handle the estate, expect that request. Send copies rather than originals when you can; the IRM tells staff to copy any original document they receive and return it to the sender.

What people mistake the LP60 for

Some readers take the LP60 for a bill addressed to them. It asks for information; the IRS page and Form 15107 ask for facts, not payment.

Others set it aside because the person has died and the matter seems closed. The IRS uses the answers to decide its next step on the account, so a reply, even a short one by phone, gives the IRS the facts from the family rather than from its own records search.

Common Questions