What is an Estate account?
An estate consists of all of the property a person owns or controls. An estate account contains deceased investments. The Estate is the primary account holder. An Executor or Personal Representative (depending on the state) is the signer for the account. The account must be opened under the estate tax ID (not a Tax ID Number). A copy of the client account holder’s death certificate and a court appointment (Letters of Testamentary) for the Executor/Personal Representative is mandatory. The Executor/Personal Rep provides the instruction to move the funds from the deceased person’s account to the Estate account. Once completed, the account can be liquidated and distributed at the Executor’s instruction. Assets can never be liquidated in a deceased person’s account.
