So instead of having to repay the 1200 issued to the deceased spouse herself, the IRS offset the incorrect payment from the refund which simply zeros out the mistake and saves your client the inconvenience of sending the money back thru some other method. Sounds good to me. 

Anyone who believes the $$ paid to deceased individuals, approx. 76,000, would be OK, and did not advise their client to anticipate a requirement  to repay the money is, in my opinion, not providing the client with a realistic outlook.

I told my clients who received the direct deposit of EIP $$ for deceased spouses, to leave it in the account, don't spend it, until the IRS decides what to do and how to get it back, because I always believed it would have to be repaid.

Guidance was released last week on repayment requirements and methods. It's raining $$$ out there, lots of mistakes are being made by the IRS and 2020 returns will be a mess. A little common sense advice to clients will ease some of the coming chaos.