In probate proceedings, the IRS may file a proof of claim or send a proof of claim to the decedent’s personal representative. Generally, the representative allows and pays the claim in the due course of administering the estate. When the representative rejects or does not pay the claim and the IRS wants to initiate collection action, IRS counsel will ask the Tax Division to initiate suit or take other action. When a pleading contesting an IRS proof of claim or seeking other relief against the United States is filed in probate court, the United States Attorney’s Office should promptly notify both the Chief of the appropriate Civil Trial Section and the appropriate IRS counsel. Some of these matters may be removable to federal district court.

Occasionally, the IRS will request that the United States Attorney’s Office seek an order from the probate court compelling the personal representative to satisfy the IRS’s claim. If the estate is insolvent, the United States Attorney’s Office can sometimes discourage the personal representative's failure to recognize the Government’s priority by calling the representative’s attention to the provisions of the Federal Insolvency Statute, 31 U.S.C. § 3713.

[updated February 2018]