Employer identification number for an estate

What it means

An estate is a separate taxpayer. It gets its own number from the federal tax authority, obtained by the executor or administrator, usually free and usually quickly.

Banks require it to open an estate account. Continuing to use the deceased person's Social Security number for estate income is not an option.

It is needed whether or not the estate ends up owing tax.

Why it matters

Nearly every practical step — opening an estate bank account, closing brokerage accounts, receiving a refund — requires it, and it is easy to obtain and easy to overlook until something is blocked.

It also draws the line between the person's finances and the estate's, which is the line an executor must not blur.

When you are likely to meet it

• Soon after being appointed.
• When a bank asks for the estate's tax number.
• When the estate receives income.

Related terms

• EstateEverything the person owned at the moment they died, treated as one thing that has to be settled.
• Estate accountA bank account in the estate's own name. Estate money must not pass through anybody's personal account.
• ExecutorThe person named in a will to carry it out — once a court actually appoints them.
• Fiduciary dutyThe obligation to act for somebody else's benefit rather than your own — and to be able to show you did.
• Fiduciary returnThe income tax return an estate or trust files for money it earns after the death.
• Final income tax returnThe last income tax return in the person's own name, covering the part of the year they were alive.
• Personal representativeThe neutral term for whoever is authorized to act for an estate, whether named in a will or appointed by a court.
• SIPCThe scheme that returns customers' securities if a brokerage fails. It does not cover losses in the market.

Official sources

The authority this page describes, at the agency that publishes it. Sahvelo does not restate a rule from a secondary source.

• IRS — information for a deceased person (opens in a new tab)

Sahvelo guidance that uses this

• Taxes after a death
• Bank accounts after a death