Form 8822 for a deceased person
Yes — a personal representative or executor can change a deceased person’s address with Form 8822, so estate-related IRS mail and any refund reach the right place. But you must be able to show you’re authorized to act for the decedent, which usually means attaching proof such as Form 2848 (Power of Attorney) or Form 56. There’s no online option, and exactly what to attach depends on your situation — so confirm with a tax professional.
Who can submit it, and what to attach
Form 8822 still works the way it always does: fill it in, sign it, and mail it to the IRS office for the old state. The difference for a decedent is authority — the IRS needs to see that you’re entitled to act on the deceased person’s behalf before it changes their record. Depending on how you were appointed, that proof is typically one of:
- Form 2848 — Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative (f2848.pdf).
- Form 56 — Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship, used to tell the IRS you’re acting as a fiduciary for the estate.
- Court documents — such as letters of appointment naming you as executor or personal representative.
Which of these you need — and whether you need more than one — depends on the estate and how you were appointed. The IRS’s own page for the form notes that a signature and authority matter (About Form 8822), but it doesn’t spell out every decedent scenario. This is exactly the kind of thing worth a quick check with a tax professional before you mail.
Why it’s mail-only — and why we can’t mail this one for you
There’s no e-file, upload, or online way to submit Form 8822 for anyone, decedent or not — it goes by paper mail to the right IRS office. For a deceased person you also enclose the authority paperwork above in the same envelope. The blank form is free (f8822.pdf).
To be upfront: our guided filler and paid mailing don’t support the decedent case. It requires signed authority documents attached on paper, which our flow doesn’t collect — so rather than half-do it, we’d point you to the free route. Download Form 8822 and your authority form, fill them in, and mail them together. Our do-it-yourself mailing guide walks through the envelope, the right IRS address, and Certified Mail for dated proof, and our plain-English instructions explain each line of the form itself.
For a standard, living-individual move, we make the IRS part painless: answer a few plain-English questions, watch the official form fill itself in, sign on your screen, and we mail it for you. About a minute.
Fill in my Form 8822Filing for someone who died? Our paid mailing can’t handle the attached authority paperwork — please do it yourself for free and, if your situation is at all unclear, confirm the right documents with a tax professional.
Sources: About Form 8822; Form 8822 (Rev. Feb 2021); Form 2848. The exact authority documents for a decedent depend on your situation — consult a tax professional.