How to Get an EIN for an Estate and Open the Estate Bank Account

Why an estate needs its own EIN

IRS Publication 559 says the first action a personal representative should take is to apply for an EIN for the estate, as soon as possible, because you need it on returns, statements and other documents. Banks, brokers and anyone paying the estate interest, dividends or rent report that income to the IRS under the estate's number, not the person's Social Security number.

You need the EIN to:

• Open the estate bank account and retitle investment accounts in the estate's name.
• File the estate's Form 1041 and send beneficiaries their Schedules K-1.
• File Form 56 for the estate.
• Give a Form W-9 to payers (a former employer paying final wages, a buyer's closing agent, a tenant).

When you might not need one

If nothing is left in the person's name after the death (everything passed by joint ownership, beneficiary designation or payable-on-death), there is no estate to administer and no EIN to get. If a small balance is collected with a small estate affidavit and handed straight to the heirs, some banks don't require an estate account. Ask before you apply; getting an EIN you don't use is harmless, but the IRS issues only one EIN per deceased person per day.

How to get an EIN for an estate, step by step

1. Have ready: the person's full name, SSN and date of death, and your own name, SSN or ITIN, address and phone. You must have a valid taxpayer ID yourself to use the online application.
2. Go to IRS.gov "Get an employer identification number" and start the online application. It is free, and only for applicants in the U.S. or U.S. territories. Make sure you are on irs.gov; paid look-alike sites exist.
3. Choose Estate as the type of entity, then "Estate of deceased individual".
4. Answer the questions in the table below. You can't save and come back, so finish in one sitting; the session times out after a period of inactivity.
5. At the end, view, download and print the confirmation letter (CP 575). Banks ask for it. The number works right away for opening accounts and filing.

Executors outside the U.S. apply by phone (267-941-1099, not toll-free, Monday to Friday, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern) or by fax or mail with Form SS-4. Fax and mail take longer. Use only one method so the estate doesn't get two numbers.

What to enter: the SS-4 questions for an estate

The online application asks the same things as Form SS-4. For a deceased person's estate:

If the executor changes later, the new executor reports the change of responsible party on Form 8822-B within 60 days; the estate keeps the same EIN.

After you have the EIN

1. File Form 56 twice: once for the person (SSN) and once for the estate (EIN).
2. Send a Form W-9 with the estate's EIN to banks, brokers, the employer and anyone else who will pay the estate, so 1099s are issued in the estate's name.
3. Open the estate bank account (next section).
4. Note the estate's tax year end and put the Form 1041 due date in your calendar.

How to open an estate bank account

An estate account (sometimes called an estate checking account or fiduciary account) is held in the estate's name, for example "Estate of Mary A. Smith, John Smith, Executor", under the estate's EIN. Start with the bank where the person had accounts: it can often move their balances straight into the new account. Banks usually ask for:

• The IRS EIN confirmation letter (CP 575).
• A certified copy of the death certificate.
• Your letters testamentary or letters of administration from the probate court. Many banks want a recently issued copy, often dated within the last 60 days. Some banks accept a small estate affidavit instead, where state law allows one.
• Your photo ID.
• Sometimes a copy of the will, and the bank's own estate account forms.

In inheritance-tax states, banks may freeze part of the person's accounts until a tax waiver arrives. New Jersey is the strictest; see New Jersey inheritance tax waivers. In Pennsylvania, see the Pennsylvania inheritance tax guide.

Running the estate account

• Everything in, everything out. Deposit every dollar the estate receives (final paychecks, refunds, sale proceeds, account balances) and pay every estate bill from this account. Never use your own account, and never pay personal costs from it.
• Keep receipts. The probate court, the beneficiaries and the IRS may all want an accounting. A clean account is most of that work.
• Reimburse yourself properly. If you paid funeral costs or estate bills personally, reimburse yourself from the account with documentation. Executor fees are taxable income to you; see executor fees by state.
• Interest is estate income. It counts toward the $600 Form 1041 filing threshold.
• Hold back a reserve for final tax returns and closing costs before the last distribution, then close the account after the final Form 1041 is filed.

Living trusts need an EIN too

A revocable living trust used the person's SSN while they were alive. After death it becomes irrevocable, and the IRS says every such trust must get a new EIN, whether or not it joins the estate under a section 645 election. The successor trustee applies the same way, choosing "trust" instead of "estate". If both an estate and a trust exist, each gets its own EIN.

Related executor guides

• Final tax returns for a deceased person: every return and deadline
• Form 1041: the estate's income tax return
• Form 56: telling the IRS you're the executor
• Form 1310: claiming a deceased person's tax refund
• Form 706: the federal estate tax return
• Executor checklist: what to do when someone dies