- quote -

Your question is appropriate for this newsgroup. You can
contact IRS to verify the existence of any accounts that
reported taxable interest or dividend income. About two
weeks ago, IRS made 2006 information returns, i.e., Forms
W-2, 1099, etc., available on its Information Returns
Masterfile.

Strict federal privacy laws govern IRS' authority to
disclose taxpayer information. Due to the circumstances
involved, I recommend the surviving spouse contact IRS in
person at the nearest walk-in office. She will need to
bring a copy of the death certificate (does not need to be
certified) and his will. And of course she will need his
social security number. Ask the staff at the IRS walk-in
office to look up the deceased husband's income information
on the IRPTR database. They should be able to print out a
2006 IRPTR transcript and provide it.

Locations and addresses of IRS walk-in offices (also called
Taxpayer Assistance Centers) are available at the link
below. Beneath the walk-in url, I'm pasting a link to IRS
Publication 559, which addresses decedent tax issues.

Good luck to you.

http://www.irs.gov/localcontacts/index.html

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p559.pdf

Condor

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Sam <none[at]none.com> wrote:

- quote -

While not perfect, file form 4506 to request and pay for a
complete copy the past two years income tax returns, showing
schedule B interest and dividend payers.

And pay attention to all notices and statements from
financial institutions.

--

ArtKamlet at a o l dot c o m Columbus OH K2PZH

<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

"Sam" <none[at]none.com> wrote:

- quote -

Only the IRS has that information and I don't think they
will do a reverse search for her, but she should be able to
get the same information from their tax return.

Any account that paid interest or dividends had to issue a
1099-INT or 1099-DIV form. Whoever prepared their last tax
return should have those 1099 forms, plus the information
from those forms should have been entered on their tax
return itself.

If there are IRA accounts there may not be any 1099 forms
but the tax returns might also indicate if an IRA exists.

Mailed statements should also lead to unknown accounts.

--
-Ernie-

<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

"Sam" <none[at]none.com> wrote

- quote -

If they filed jointly, or if not, does she have access to
his returns, she can gather that information from the tax
returns for any accounts that earned income and that he was
primary on.

Otherwise, she'll need a Power of Attorney to get a
transcript of his account from the IRS which should list the
income bearing accounts.

Any accounts that did not earn income won't be listed, nor
would any accounts in which he was part owner (listed
secondary on).

--
Paul A. Thomas, CPA
Athens, Georgia

<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

"Sam" <none[at]none.com> wrote:

- quote -

I'm not aware of a comprehensive way to do that. My
suggestions:

1. Simply contact banks and stock brokers and ask if he had
an account there. She should include a copy of her Letters
Testementary, if any.

2. Look through his bank statements for his primary account
for the last few years, to see if she can identify any
deposits into other accounts.

3. Check his credit report for who made inquiries as to his
credit.

Good luck.

Stu

<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

I know this isn't a tax-related question but I'm unable to
find suitable newsgroups for this

My friend's husband passed away a few months ago and
although she is quite sure about knowing of all his
financial accounts, she wants to make sure there aren't ones
she has missed. Is there any way to find out through a
person's social security number what bank accounts, trading
accounts, investment accounts, etc he had?

<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >