Trustee Manual · Phase 3 of 11
EIN and trust accounts
After death, the trust needs its own taxpayer number. New accounts are opened in the trustee's name, for the trust, not in your personal name.
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What an EIN is
An EIN is an employer identification number. It is the trust's tax number after the settlor's death. While a typical revocable trust was in force during life, institutions used the settlor's Social Security number. After death the trust is irrevocable and should not keep using that number for new administration.
You request the EIN with Form SS-4. The IRS issues it online at no charge. You will usually need the trust's exact name, the date it became irrevocable (often the date of death), and your own name and address as trustee. Use the name the trust uses for itself, which is usually in the first paragraph.
How to style the account
Banks expect a formal reference along these lines: "Alex Rivera, Trustee of the Rivera Family Revocable Trust dated June 1, 2012." Copy the style from your document. The example is only a pattern. Do not shorten it to your personal name, and do not add "estate of" unless a lawyer tells you this account is actually a probate estate account.
Open a checking account in that fiduciary style. Trust money goes there. Your money does not. If you advance a filing fee from your pocket, reimburse it with a memo and a receipt rather than running the trust through your household account.
What banks usually ask to see
Expect to bring a photo ID, a certified death certificate, the EIN confirmation letter, and either a certification of trust or the trust instrument. Every institution writes its own packet. Some still insist on the full trust. A certification is often enough, and it keeps the gift provisions off the teller's desk.
Do not retitle life insurance or retirement accounts just because the trust mentions "all my property." Those assets usually pass by beneficiary designation to a named person, or to the trust only if the trust is the named beneficiary. Liquidating a retirement account by mistake is a tax problem you cannot undo at the counter.
Checklist
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Use the trust's name and the date it became irrevocable.