Most people would be happy to find an extra couple hundred dollars in their mailbox or bank account — unless, of course, the unexpected windfall was earmarked for someone who died. Not only is the money a painful reminder of a loved one's absence, it raises vexing questions: What do I do with it? Should I spend it? Send it back? And if so, how?
That was the dilemma facing Americans who received $1,200 stimulus payments in 2020 by paper check or direct deposit, in the names of deceased spouses and other family members. The federal government had sent stimulus payments to about 1.1 million dead people totaling nearly $1.4 billion. The
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) told people to give the money back.
But the rules have changed for the second, maximum $600 stimulus checks, as well as the $1,400 checks being issued now. The legislation that authorized the second stimulus payment to eligible recipients says that only recipients who died in 2019 or earlier must return the payments. But, the legislation that authorized the third round of stimulus payments says that those who died in 2020
aren’t qualified to get a stimulus check. Someone who died in 2021 still qualified.
The IRS is checking to make sure that checks aren’t issued to people who died when they weren’t qualified to get one.
