EIN for an Estate Bank Account: What the Bank Needs and Why

Why the bank will not use the deceased person’s SSN

On the date of death the person’s SSN stops being usable for anything new. Their existing accounts are frozen or paid out to named beneficiaries, and everything else, the house sale proceeds, the last paycheck, the tax refund, the money from closing accounts, has to go somewhere that belongs to the estate. That somewhere is a new account held by the estate as its own taxpayer, and a taxpayer needs a tax ID. For an estate the tax ID is an EIN. Why every estate needs one and how to get it.

What the bank asks for

• The EIN, in writing. The IRS confirmation notice, CP 575, or the PDF the online tool produces. Most banks accept the PDF; a few want the mailed letter, and if the confirmation is lost the replacement is a 147C letter. How to get one.
• A certified death certificate. Banks usually keep a copy, so order several from the vital-records office.
• Your authority. Letters testamentary if there was a will, letters of administration if not, or the equivalent your state issues. Some states let a small estate skip probate with an affidavit; the bank will tell you whether it accepts that in place of letters.
• Your own government ID. You are the signer on the account, in your capacity as executor.

How the account is titled

The account is titled to the estate with you as fiduciary, in a form like “Estate of Jane Q. Public, John Public, Executor”. The EIN on the account is the estate’s. Your name is there so you can sign; your SSN is not on the account and its interest is not your income. Interest the account earns belongs to the estate and is reported on the estate’s return, Form 1041, if the estate earns enough to file one.

Getting the EIN the same day

If you have an SSN or ITIN, the IRS online tool issues the estate’s EIN immediately during its open hours, and the bank will usually accept the PDF confirmation that afternoon. The three lines that matter: you are the responsible party on Line 7, the deceased person’s SSN goes only beside the Estate box on Line 9a, and the date on Line 11 is the date of death. The whole form, line by line. An executor outside the United States, or one without an SSN, uses fax or mail instead.

Quick answers

Can I just add myself to the deceased person’s existing account?

No. Once the bank learns of the death that account is frozen except for paying out to a named beneficiary or joint owner. Money the estate collects needs the estate’s own account.

Does a small estate still need an EIN for the account?

If the estate needs a bank account at all, yes. The size of the estate decides whether probate is needed and whether Form 1041 is due, not whether the account needs a tax ID.

The deceased person had a trust. Which number does the bank want?

Assets titled to the trust go into a trust account under the trust’s EIN; everything else goes into the estate account under the estate’s EIN. Two numbers, two accounts, and the same person may be signing on both. The trust side of it.

Can the bank get the EIN for me?

No. The bank can only take the number once it exists. The executor applies, or has a preparer apply as third-party designee.