Can you deduct a deceased person's medical expenses?

Expenses paid before death

Medical expenses the decedent paid before death are deductible, subject to limits, on the final income tax return if the return itemizes deductions. This includes expenses for the decedent, the decedent's spouse and the decedent's dependents. One caution in the publication: qualified medical expenses are not deductible if they were paid with a tax-free distribution from an HSA or an Archer MSA. The deduction is only for the amount above 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income, so the calculator above subtracts that floor first.

On a final return that includes the decedent's income only up to the date of death, AGI is also only the amount up to that date, which tends to make the floor smaller than on a full-year return. If you do not itemize, the full standard deduction is allowed regardless of the date of death, and there is no separate deduction for medical expenses.

Expenses not paid before death

Medical bills unpaid at death are liabilities of the estate, and they are shown on the federal estate tax return, Form 706. But the publication gives the personal representative a choice. If the expenses for the decedent are paid out of the estate during the one-year period beginning with the day after death, you can elect to treat all or part of them as paid by the decedent when they were incurred. Then you can claim them on the decedent's income tax return, if deductions are itemized, rather than on Form 706.

Expenses incurred in the year of death are deducted on the final income tax return. For expenses incurred in an earlier year, you file an amended return on Form 1040-X unless the time to file a claim for that year has expired. The deductible amount is still the part above 7.5 percent of AGI, and a point the publication makes plainly: amounts that are not deductible because of the percentage floor cannot be claimed on the federal estate tax return either. Plug in the date of death above to see the last day for paying from the estate.

How to make the election

Attach a statement, in duplicate, to the decedent's income tax return or amended return. The statement must say that you have not claimed the amount as an estate tax deduction and that the estate waives the right to claim the amount as a deduction. The election applies only to expenses incurred for the decedent, not to medical care costs for dependents.

The R. Brown example

R. Brown, a cash method taxpayer on a calendar year, died June 1, 2025 at 78 after running up $800 of medical expenses: $500 incurred in 2024 and $300 in 2025. R. Brown had itemized on the 2024 return. The personal representative paid the whole $800 in August 2025. The representative may file Form 1040-X for 2024 to claim the $500, subject to the 7.5 percent limit, and deduct the $300 on the final return for 2025 if itemizing, again subject to the limit. The representative must file the statement in duplicate with each return saying these amounts were not claimed on Form 706 and waiving the right to claim them there. The one-year window in this case ends June 1, 2026.

If you paid, not the estate

If you paid medical expenses for your deceased spouse or a dependent, claim them on your own return for the year in which you paid them, whether paid before or after the death. If the decedent was a child of divorced or separated parents, the expenses can usually be claimed by both the custodial and noncustodial parent to the extent each paid them during the year.

Insurance reimbursements and funeral costs

Insurance reimbursements of previously deducted medical expenses that are owed to the decedent at death and later received by the estate are included in the estate's Form 1041 for the year received. They are also included in the gross estate. Funeral expenses are a separate matter: the publication says no deduction for funeral expenses can be taken on the final Form 1040 or 1040-SR, though they may be deductible for estate tax purposes on Form 706.

Sources

• IRS Publication 559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators (2025): Final Income Tax Return for Decedent, Deductions (Standard Deduction, Medical Expenses: Election for decedent's expenses, Making the election, Medical expenses not paid by estate, Insurance reimbursements). Read November 2, 2026.

Edition read: Publication 559 (2025), for use in preparing 2025 returns. Dollar limits and dates in this publication are for 2025; check the current publication and form instructions for your tax year. This page summarizes the publication and does not replace it.