What to do when a E*TRADE account holder dies
Contact E*TRADE — 8-step process, 13 required documents, and 7 business days after receiving all required documentation in good order
Brand change
Morgan Stanley completed its acquisition of E*TRADE on October 2, 2020, and the brand now operates as "E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley." E*TRADE is a business of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC; securities forms are Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC forms and banking products are issued by Morgan Stanley Private Bank, N.A. The E*TRADE name, website (us.etrade.com), and the E*TRADE Beneficiary Services team remain active — estate and beneficiary claims are still opened at the E*TRADE Beneficiary Services line (888-402-0653) and etrade_estates@morganstanley.com, not through the separate Morgan Stanley wealth-management channel. Legacy self-directed E*TRADE accounts are still serviced under the E*TRADE brand, so heirs should start here rather than at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. Effective October 2020.
E*TRADE is now part of Morgan Stanley. The procedures below reflect E*TRADE's accounts during the transition. View the Morgan Stanley estate planning page.
E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley, P.O. Box 484, Jersey City, NJ 07303-0484
E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley, P.O. Box 484, Jersey City, NJ 07303-0484
E*TRADE Beneficiary Services
E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley, P.O. Box 484, Jersey City, NJ 07303-0484
When an account holder at E*TRADE passes away, the next step depends on how the investment accounts were set up. Accounts with beneficiary designations or trust ownership transfer outside of probate. Accounts titled solely in the deceased's name require the estate's legal representative to work with E*TRADE's E*TRADE Beneficiary Services (1-888-402-0653) to access and distribute the funds.
E*TRADE offers an online claims portal that makes the initial filing process more straightforward. Survivors can also initiate claims by phone or by mailing documentation directly.
Death claim process
The death claim process at E*TRADE works as follows:
Filing a claim
- Call 888-402-0653 (Monday-Friday 9am-7pm ET)
- Email etrade_estates@morganstanley.com
- Submit the online DocuSign notification form (Notify E*TRADE or Morgan Stanley Private Bank of a Death)
- Download and mail the Notify E*TRADE of a Death form from us.etrade.com/forms-applications
- Deceased's first and last name, date of birth, date of death, and SSN or account number
- A legible copy or photo of the death certificate (certified copy may be required later)
- Individual accounts
- Joint Tenants in Common and Joint Community Property accounts
- Joint with Rights of Survivorship and Joint Tenants by the Entirety accounts, when all owners are deceased
- IRAs, 401(k)s, Profit Sharing Plans, Money Purchase Plans, and Coverdell ESAs
- UTMA/UGMA accounts when the custodian or the minor is deceased
- Trust accounts when the sole trustee or all trustees are deceased
- Business/fiduciary accounts when the sole or all authorized individuals are deceased
- Each beneficiary or inheritor must contact E*TRADE individually
- Open a new E*TRADE account if you do not already have one — beneficiaries are required to hold an E*TRADE account to receive the transferred assets
- Beneficiary Services identifies which documents your case needs based on account type, state law, and beneficiary status
- Submit them together with the Estate & Inheritor Document Upload form (https://content.etrade.com/etrade/mssb/pdf/Estate_Inheritor_Document_Upload.pdf) at etrade.com/DocusignInheritorDocumentUpload — incomplete submissions delay the case
- Death Certificate
- Account Application
- Letter of Instruction
- Notarized Small Estate Affidavit
- Legal Probate Court Document
- Cost Basis Adjustment Form
- Beneficiary Verification Form
- Trust Agreement and Amendments
- Miscellaneous estate documents
Required Documents
- Death certificate (legible copy or photo to open the case; an original or certified copy is required if the copy provided is unclear or the account type calls for it)
- Government-issued ID for claimant/beneficiary
- For TOD/POD accounts: typically just the death certificate and ID — the named beneficiary takes outside probate
- For IRA inheritance: Inherited IRA Application (beneficiaries must open the same type of IRA they are inheriting) and a certified or original death certificate
- For probate: Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration ("Legal Probate Court Document" on the Estate & Inheritor Document Upload form)
- Notarized Small Estate Affidavit (accepted in place of Letters where state law allows — listed on the Estate & Inheritor Document Upload form)
- Trust Agreement and all amendments (trust-titled accounts, or a trust named as beneficiary)
- Letter of Instruction (accepted; listed on the Estate & Inheritor Document Upload form)
- For non-US decedents: estate/heirship documents, W8-BEN and/or W8-BEN-E tax forms, possibly a US court order
- Affidavit of Domicile (to specify legal residence of the deceased)
- Affidavit of Heirs (when an IRA death benefit is payable to children as a group)
- Cost Basis Adjustment Form and Beneficiary Verification Form, when Beneficiary Services requests them
- Additional documents may be required based on account type, state law, and beneficiary status
Claims Contact
What to know at this institution
E*TRADE is a business of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, but the death claim is still opened with the E*TRADE Beneficiary Services team (888-402-0653; etrade_estates@morganstanley.com), not with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. International callers: +1-678-624-6013. General fax: 1-866-650-0003; from outside the US: +1-678-624-6950 (include a fax cover sheet; notarized documents and stock certificates cannot be faxed). Overnight mail: Harborside 2, 200 Hudson Street, Suite 501, Jersey City, NJ 07311-1113. Banking products are issued by Morgan Stanley Private Bank, N.A. (Member FDIC) and its mail goes to Morgan Stanley Private Bank, P.O. Box 484, Jersey City, NJ 07303-0484; securities are held at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (Member SIPC). Beneficiary Services assigns a case number — reference it on the Estate & Inheritor Document Upload form so the documents attach to the open case. Under the TOD Registration Terms, if no primary or contingent beneficiary survives the account holder the assets pass by default to the account holder's estate; if a dispute or suit arises over the account, Morgan Stanley may deposit the assets into the registry of the court and be discharged from further obligation. Beneficiaries must open an E*TRADE account to receive the assets; for inherited IRAs, they must open the same type of IRA they are inheriting via the Inherited IRA Application.
Prepare your letter of instruction to E*TRADE
E*TRADE provides its own letter-of-instruction form. Answer a few questions and we complete that official form for you to print and sign.
Build your letter of instructionExpected timelines at E*TRADE: 7 business days after receiving all required documentation in good order. Delays are almost always caused by incomplete paperwork—gathering all required documents before filing the initial claim helps avoid back-and-forth.
E*TRADE requires several documents to process a claim, including Death certificate (legible copy or photo to open the case; an original or certified copy is required if the copy provided is unclear or the account type calls for it), Government-issued ID for claimant/beneficiary, and For TOD/POD accounts: typically just the death certificate and ID — the named beneficiary takes outside probate, and additional documentation depending on the account type. Certified copies are typically needed—photocopies are generally not accepted for death certificates or court documents.
Frequently asked questions
With E*TRADE, not with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. Morgan Stanley completed its acquisition of E*TRADE on October 2, 2020, and E*TRADE now operates as a business of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (banking through Morgan Stanley Private Bank, N.A.). The forms carry both names, but a legacy self-directed E*TRADE account is still administered by the E*TRADE Beneficiary Services team: call 888-402-0653 (Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET; internationally +1-678-624-6013), email etrade_estates@morganstanley.com, or submit the Notify E*TRADE of a Death form (https://content.etrade.com/etrade/estation/pdf/notifyofdeath.pdf). A dedicated Beneficiary Services professional is assigned to the case and gives you a case number. If the decedent also had a Morgan Stanley advisory account, that is a separate relationship and a separate claim.
Yes, if you are married and are not naming your spouse as 100% primary beneficiary. Both the Designation of Beneficiary - Brokerage Nonretirement Account (Transfer on Death) form (https://content.etrade.com/etrade/mssb/pdf/Trans_on_Death2.pdf) and the Designation of Beneficiary - Bank Account (Payable on Death) form (https://content.etrade.com/etrade/customer/bank/ETB_Bene_POD.pdf) require the spouse to sign the Spousal Waiver in Section 3 for married residents of Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Those residents also cannot use the online TOD tool when naming a non-spouse primary beneficiary — they must submit the paper form, and all pages must be sent even if the Spousal Consent section is blank. Otherwise, log in and go to Customer Service, Account Management, Transfer on Death (TOD) Registration. No Medallion Signature Guarantee is required on either designation form.
Beneficiary Services tells you which documents your case needs, then you send them together with the Estate & Inheritor Document Upload form (https://content.etrade.com/etrade/mssb/pdf/Estate_Inheritor_Document_Upload.pdf) at etrade.com/DocusignInheritorDocumentUpload. That form checklists what E*TRADE accepts: death certificate, account application, letter of instruction, notarized small estate affidavit, legal probate court document (Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration), cost basis adjustment form, beneficiary verification form, trust agreement and amendments, and miscellaneous estate documents. A TOD or POD beneficiary typically needs only the death certificate and ID. An IRA beneficiary also files an Inherited IRA Application and opens the same type of IRA being inherited. Send everything at once — incomplete submissions delay the case. Documents can also be mailed to E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley, P.O. Box 484, Jersey City, NJ 07303-0484, or faxed to 1-866-650-0003.
The account is restricted. Per the Notify E*TRADE of a Death form, Morgan Stanley restricts individual accounts, joint tenants in common and joint community property accounts, JTWROS and tenants-by-the-entirety accounts once all owners are deceased, IRAs, 401(k)s, profit sharing and money purchase plans, Coverdell ESAs, UTMA/UGMA accounts when the custodian or the minor dies, trust accounts when all trustees are deceased, and business or fiduciary accounts when all authorized individuals are deceased. Open orders are canceled and bill payment and checking activity stop, and account access stays limited until Beneficiary Services connects with you and receives the required documents. Assets are typically re-registered to the estate or the claimants within 7 business days of E*TRADE having everything in good order. Each beneficiary must contact E*TRADE separately and must hold an E*TRADE account to receive the assets.
E*TRADE's E*TRADE Beneficiary Services can be reached by phone at 1-888-402-0653, email at etrade_estates@morganstanley.com, and fax at 1-866-650-0003 for questions throughout the claims process.
If the deceased held multiple E*TRADE investment accounts, each may require a separate claim or have different documentation requirements. The E*TRADE Beneficiary Services can confirm which accounts require individual attention and which can be processed together.
Sources
Data sourced from E*TRADE primary sources (23 pages reviewed). How we research.
E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley, P.O. Box 484, Jersey City, NJ 07303-0484
E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley, P.O. Box 484, Jersey City, NJ 07303-0484
E*TRADE Beneficiary Services
E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley, P.O. Box 484, Jersey City, NJ 07303-0484
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