What to Do If You Get a Stimulus Check for a Deceased Person

EDITOR'S NOTE:

This article was originally published during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when the federal government issued stimulus payments to individuals, including in some cases to deceased persons. As of 2025, no federal stimulus checks are being issued.

For more information on so-called "stimulus checks" as of 2025, see our report: Stimulus Checks 2025: IRS Payments, State Rebates and What's Next.

The IRS sent nearly 1.1 million stimulus checks – totaling about $1.4 billion – to dead people. And that's just through April 2020. When stimulus checks were approved in late March of 2020, the tax agency worked feverishly to get payments out the door as quickly as possible. Well, haste makes waste. By focusing so much on speed, the IRS left a few holes wide open … like sending checks to dead people.

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People who receive checks for relatives who are no longer with us are scratching their heads wondering what they should do with the money. Keep it? Deposit it into an estate account? Send it back? Donate it to charity? Something else? Fortunately, the IRS has specific guidance on what to do if you receive a stimulus check for a deceased person.

Who Needs to Return a Stimulus Payment

The IRS says that a stimulus payment made to someone who died before receiving it should be returned to the government. The entire payment should be returned, unless it was made payable to joint filers and one spouse is still alive. In that case, you only need to return the portion of the payment made on account of the deceased person. This amount will be $1,200, unless your joint adjusted gross income exceeded $150,000.

If You Received a Paper Check and Have Not Cashed It

If you received a paper stimulus check, and you have not cashed it, follow these steps:

• Write "Void" in the endorsement section on the back of the check;
• Mail the voided check immediately to the appropriate IRS location listed below;
• Don't staple, bend, or paper clip the check; and
• Include a note stating the reason for returning the check.

Cashed Paper Checks and Direct Deposit Payments

If the payment was by paper check and you have cashed it, or if the payment was a direct deposit, follow these steps:

• Submit a personal check, money order, etc., immediately to the appropriate IRS location listed below;
• Make the check/money order payable to "U.S. Treasury";
• Write "2020EIP" and the deceased person's taxpayer identification number (social security number or individual taxpayer identification number) on the check or money order; and
• Include a brief explanation of the reason for returning the payment.

Where to Send the Returned Payment

Here are the IRS mailing addresses to use for returning stimulus check payments.