What to do when a Northern Trust account holder dies
Contact Northern Trust's Wealth Management — Trust and Estate Services (Estate Settlement Services) — 6-step process, 9 required documents, and northern trust does not publish a claim timeline. timing turns on the registration: a joint or tod/pod account transfers on the death certificate and beneficiary id alone, a trust account passes to the successor trustee under the trust's terms, and an individually owned account with no beneficiary waits on letters from the probate court. where northern trust is the named executor or trustee, the settlement runs on the probate court's and the tax calendar's schedule, not on a claims clock.
Client Services (banking, investments, online services)
The Northern Trust Company, 50 South La Salle Street, Chicago, IL 60603
Wealth Management — Trust and Estate Services (Estate Settlement Services)
The Northern Trust Company, 50 South La Salle Street, Chicago, IL 60603
Estate Settlement Services (Northern Trust accounts) / Northern Funds Center (mutual fund accounts)
Northern Trust bank, brokerage, and wealth-management accounts: The Northern Trust Company, 50 South La Salle Street, Chicago, IL 60603. Northern Funds mutual-fund accounts: Northern Funds, P.O. Box 75986, Chicago, IL 60675-5986 (overnight: Northern Funds, 333 South Wabash Avenue, Dept. W-38, Chicago, IL 60604; fax 312-557-0411). Mortgage servicing error notices and requests for information: The Northern Trust Company, P.O. Box 92992, Chicago, IL 60675.
After an account holder at Northern Trust dies, accounts with beneficiary designations or trust ownership transfer to the designated recipients without probate. Solely-owned accounts require the estate's representative to contact Northern Trust's Estate Settlement Services (Northern Trust accounts) / Northern Funds Center (mutual fund accounts) at 1-800-388-5316 with the proper legal authority documents.
Northern Trust 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.
Deposit, investment & retirement accounts
Here is the step-by-step death claim process at Northern Trust:
Filing a claim
- A Northern Trust WEALTH-MANAGEMENT relationship (bank, brokerage, managed accounts, trusts): reach the relationship through the deceased's Northern Trust advisor, or through Client Services at 1-866-876-9944 (banking, investments, online services) or general assistance at 1-800-388-5316.
- A NORTHERN FUNDS mutual-fund account held directly with the fund company: call the Northern Funds Center at 800-595-9111, weekdays 7:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. central time.
- A situation where NORTHERN TRUST IS THE FIDUCIARY — named as trustee, successor trustee, or executor in the will or trust: this is not a claim at all. Northern Trust's own Estate Settlement Services group takes over the administration. See the notes below.
- Joint with rights of survivorship: the surviving owner continues; the death certificate is usually all that is needed to remove the decedent.
- TOD or POD beneficiary: the named beneficiary claims directly with ID and the death certificate — no probate.
- Trust account: the successor trustee produces the trust agreement (or the certification of trust) and their own ID, and steps in under the trust's terms.
- Individually owned with no beneficiary: the executor or administrator produces Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration from the probate court, plus an EIN for the estate.
- Northern Funds IRA passing to a beneficiary: file the Inherited IRA Claim and Distribution Request form — https://ntam.northerntrust.com/content/dam/northerntrust/investment-management/global/en/documents/account-resources/forms/ira-distribution-request-form-inherited.pdf — and note that the fund will not process it until the proper legal documents are received. A surviving spouse who wants to treat the IRA as their own uses the standard IRA Distribution Request form instead.
Required Documents
- Certified copy of the death certificate (order several — each institution and transfer agent keeps one)
- Government-issued photo ID for the beneficiary, executor, successor trustee, or surviving joint owner
- Account numbers or enough identifying information for Northern Trust to locate the accounts
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration when the account was individually owned with no beneficiary
- Trust agreement or certification of trust, plus successor-trustee identification, for a trust account
- EIN for the estate when an estate account is opened
- Inherited IRA Claim and Distribution Request form for a Northern Funds IRA passing to a beneficiary
- Letter of Instruction with a Medallion Signature Guarantee for Northern Funds account requests that have no dedicated form
- State inheritance-tax waiver where the decedent's state requires one before assets are released
What to know at this institution
The distinctive case at Northern Trust is that it may be the FIDUCIARY, not the counterparty. Its Estate Settlement Services group exists to serve as the executor or trustee itself — when the will or trust names "The Northern Trust Company," the family does not file a claim; Northern Trust takes over the administration. Its published fiduciary services include Professional Trustee Services, Estate Settlement Services, Guardianship Services, Family Business Services (serving as trustee or executor to manage private business interests and advise on governance and succession), Energy and Minerals Management, and Real Estate and Agricultural Services (serving as trustee or executor for residential, commercial, and agricultural holdings). That is the reason to name a corporate fiduciary: an individual executor cannot run an oil lease or a farm through an 18-month administration. A family reaches the group through the wealth-management relationship — the deceased's advisor, Client Services at 1-866-876-9944, or general assistance at 1-800-388-5316; there is no public estate-settlement hotline, and Northern Trust does not publish a fee schedule or minimum for the engagement. Northern Trust also publishes a free Estate Settlement checklist that is useful whether or not it is the fiduciary. Note the Northern Funds boundary: the mutual-fund forms (TOD, IRA beneficiary designation, Inherited IRA claim, Letter of Instruction) are serviced by the Northern Funds Center at 800-595-9111, P.O. Box 75986, Chicago, IL 60675-5986, fax 312-557-0411 — a different operation from the bank, with a different address, and Northern Funds are distributed by an entity the fund states is not affiliated with Northern Trust.
Mortgage and home lending
Mortgages and home equity loans are liabilities, not assets. They do not have beneficiaries and cannot be retitled to a trust. When a borrower dies, the loan obligation transfers with the property to whoever inherits it. Under the federal Garn-St. Germain Act, the lender cannot accelerate the loan or call it due when the property transfers to a surviving spouse, child, or the borrower’s revocable trust.
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration if an estate is opened
- The will, trust document, or deed showing the ownership interest that passed to you
Required Documents
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, if an estate is opened
- Will, trust document, or deed evidencing the ownership interest that passed to you
- Government-issued photo ID for the heir or personal representative
- For a loan modification, Northern Trust asks borrowers to have available: the HUD-1 Settlement Statement for the current loan, the most recent W-2, a recent pay statement, and documentation of monthly expenses (utilities, other debt, medical, insurance)
What to know at this institution
Under the Garn-St. Germain Act (12 U.S.C. 1701j-3(d)), the lender cannot call the loan due when the home transfers on death to a relative who occupies it, to a surviving joint tenant, or into the borrower's revocable living trust — so an inheriting family member can keep the existing loan rather than being forced to refinance. Payment-difficulty and general assistance: 1-800-388-5316. Written servicing requests and error notices: The Northern Trust Company, P.O. Box 92992, Chicago, IL 60675.
Prepare your letter of instruction to Northern Trust
Northern Trust 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 instructionOpening an account for the estate itself
Checks made out to the estate deposit into an account titled to the estate, opened by the appointed executor or administrator under the estate's EIN.
How to open an estate account at Northern Trust →How long the process takes at Northern Trust: Northern Trust does not publish a claim timeline. Timing turns on the registration: a joint or TOD/POD account transfers on the death certificate and beneficiary ID alone, a trust account passes to the successor trustee under the trust's terms, and an individually owned account with no beneficiary waits on Letters from the probate court. Where Northern Trust is the named executor or trustee, the settlement runs on the probate court's and the tax calendar's schedule, not on a claims clock. The most common reason for delays is missing or incomplete documentation, so submitting everything upfront is the best way to keep things moving.
Northern Trust requires several documents to process a claim, including Certified copy of the death certificate (order several — each institution and transfer agent keeps one), Government-issued photo ID for the beneficiary, executor, successor trustee, or surviving joint owner, and Account numbers or enough identifying information for Northern Trust to locate the accounts, 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
Then there is no claim to file — Northern Trust does the administration. When a will or trust names "The Northern Trust Company," its Estate Settlement Services group steps in as the fiduciary: it takes custody of the assets, notifies the heirs and beneficiaries, values the estate, files the estate and income tax returns, and distributes to the beneficiaries and any marital or family trusts the document creates. Its trustees manage more than 30,000 fiduciary accounts, and its specialty-asset teams (certified property managers, landmen, petroleum engineers, accredited farm managers) are the reason a family names a corporate fiduciary in the first place — an individual executor generally cannot run an oil lease, a farm, or a closely held business through a multi-year administration. The family reaches the group through the deceased's Northern Trust advisor, Client Services at 1-866-876-9944, or general assistance at 1-800-388-5316. Naming Northern Trust is a drafting decision: the trust or will must name it, using its exact legal name.
It depends which account it is, and the distinction trips people up. The Transfer on Death Registration form published at ntam.northerntrust.com is a NORTHERN FUNDS form — for a mutual-fund account held directly with the fund company (Northern Funds Center, 800-595-9111). On that form, TOD registration is available only for an individual account or joint tenants with rights of survivorship: not for a trust, a corporation, or tenants in common, and never for an IRA (IRAs use the separate IRA Beneficiary Designation form). A Northern Trust BANK, BROKERAGE, or WEALTH-MANAGEMENT account is different: there is no public form, and the POD or TOD designation is completed through your Northern Trust advisor, who also arranges the Medallion Signature Guarantee that existing-account registrations require.
The debt does not disappear, and it has no beneficiary. It becomes an obligation of the estate or of whoever inherits the home, resolved by payoff, assumption, refinance, loss mitigation, or sale. Federal law protects the title transfer: under the Garn-St. Germain Act (12 U.S.C. 1701j-3(d)), Northern Trust cannot enforce the due-on-sale clause when the home passes on death to a relative who occupies it, to a surviving joint tenant, or into the borrower's revocable living trust — so an inheriting family member can keep the existing loan instead of being forced to refinance. Notify Northern Trust at 1-800-388-5316, the line it publishes for residential mortgage and home equity credit line payment assistance, and put any request for loan information, the payoff figure, or account history in writing to The Northern Trust Company, P.O. Box 92992, Chicago, IL 60675 — the address Northern Trust publishes for mortgage error resolution and requests for information. Keep the payments current while the file is reviewed.
Northern Trust's Estate Settlement Services (Northern Trust accounts) / Northern Funds Center (mutual fund accounts) can be reached by phone at 1-866-876-9944 and fax at 1-312-557-0411 for questions throughout the claims process.
Multiple Northern Trust accounts may mean multiple claims. Some account types can be processed together, but others require their own documentation. Check with the Estate Settlement Services (Northern Trust accounts) / Northern Funds Center (mutual fund accounts) to confirm what applies.
Sources
Data sourced from Northern Trust primary sources (14 pages reviewed). How we research.
Client Services (banking, investments, online services)
The Northern Trust Company, 50 South La Salle Street, Chicago, IL 60603
Wealth Management — Trust and Estate Services (Estate Settlement Services)
The Northern Trust Company, 50 South La Salle Street, Chicago, IL 60603
Estate Settlement Services (Northern Trust accounts) / Northern Funds Center (mutual fund accounts)
Northern Trust bank, brokerage, and wealth-management accounts: The Northern Trust Company, 50 South La Salle Street, Chicago, IL 60603. Northern Funds mutual-fund accounts: Northern Funds, P.O. Box 75986, Chicago, IL 60675-5986 (overnight: Northern Funds, 333 South Wabash Avenue, Dept. W-38, Chicago, IL 60604; fax 312-557-0411). Mortgage servicing error notices and requests for information: The Northern Trust Company, P.O. Box 92992, Chicago, IL 60675.
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