What to do when a Raymond James account holder dies
Contact Raymond James's Raymond James Trust, N.A. — 7-step process, 8 required documents, and a few weeks for simple tod claims; several months for full probate estates
Client Services
Raymond James Financial Center, 880 Carillon Parkway, St. Petersburg, FL 33716
Raymond James Trust, N.A.
Raymond James Trust, N.A., 880 Carillon Parkway, St. Petersburg, FL 33716
Death Claims / Estate Settlement
Raymond James Financial Center, 880 Carillon Parkway, St. Petersburg, FL 33716
When an account holder at Raymond James 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 Raymond James's Death Claims / Estate Settlement (800-647-7378) to access and distribute the funds.
Before contacting Raymond James, have the account holder's full name, date of birth, and any available account numbers ready. A certified death certificate is required to initiate the claim.
Death claim process
Here is the step-by-step death claim process at Raymond James:
Filing a claim
- Contact the decedent's Raymond James financial advisor directly as the first step
- If the advisor is unknown, call main client services at 800-647-7378
- TOD accounts: beneficiary presents death certificate and government-issued ID (bypasses probate)
- IRA beneficiaries: complete an Inherited IRA application through the advisor. The IRA custodian is Raymond James Trust Company of New Hampshire, and under its custodial agreement it may sell holdings that cannot be divided into negotiable amounts and split the cash proceeds among beneficiaries -- so ask the advisor how the positions will be divided before the claim is processed
- IRA with no surviving named beneficiary: the custodial agreement defaults to the surviving spouse, and if the owner was unmarried, to the ESTATE -- which means Letters and probate for an account that was supposed to avoid it
- Estates requiring probate: provide Letters Testamentary and estate EIN to open estate account
Required Documents
- Certified copy of death certificate (at least 20 copies recommended)
- Government-issued ID for executor, beneficiary, or claimant
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (if going through probate)
- Copy of the will or trust document (if applicable)
- Raymond James estate/claim forms (provided by advisor)
- Estate EIN from IRS (required to open an estate account)
- Inherited IRA application (for IRA beneficiaries)
- Small Estate Affidavit (if eligible under state law)
Claims Contact
What to know at this institution
Raymond James is advisor-centric: there is no estate-claims portal and no online claim intake. Beneficiaries and executors contact the decedent's financial advisor directly as the first step; if the advisor is unknown, call client services at 800-647-SERV (800-647-7378), and mail goes to the Raymond James Financial Center, 880 Carillon Parkway, St. Petersburg, FL 33716. Raymond James Trust, N.A. (727-567-2300) is a separate track: it only runs the settlement when it was actually named trustee or personal representative/executor, and its corporate fiduciary services carry a $1 million investable-asset minimum. The IRA custodian is a third entity again -- Raymond James Trust Company of New Hampshire (Raymond James & Associates is sub-custodian) -- so an inherited-IRA claim is processed under that custodial agreement rather than the brokerage account agreement. Raymond James' own "Losing a Loved One" guide sets expectations beyond its own accounts: request at least 20 certified death certificates, petition the probate court for an order to open a safe-deposit box if you are not an authorized key holder, report the death to the Social Security Administration and file for survivor benefits, and, as executor, file the inventory and appraisal of tangible property with the probate court within 90 days (a general timeframe from the guide -- confirm the deadline in your state).
Prepare your letter of instruction to Raymond James
Raymond James asks for a letter of instruction alongside its claim form. We prepare a transmittal cover letter and the enclosure checklist Raymond James requires.
Build your letter of instructionHow long the process takes at Raymond James: A few weeks for simple TOD claims; several months for full probate estates. The most common reason for delays is missing or incomplete documentation, so submitting everything upfront is the best way to keep things moving.
Raymond James requires several documents to process a claim, including Certified copy of death certificate (at least 20 copies recommended), Government-issued ID for executor, beneficiary, or claimant, and Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (if going through 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
Your IRA is not held under the brokerage account agreement. Raymond James Trust Company of New Hampshire (established 2021) is the custodian of every Raymond James IRA, with Raymond James & Associates as sub-custodian, and the beneficiary designation lives in that custodial account agreement (https://www.raymondjames.com/-/media/rj/dotcom/files/legal-disclosures/mca-ira/ira.pdf). The default cascade in that agreement is the part worth checking: if no valid designation is in effect at death, or if every primary and contingent beneficiary predeceased the owner, the beneficiary is deemed to be the surviving spouse -- and if the owner was not married, the owner's ESTATE. An IRA that lands in the estate loses its probate-free path and needs Letters before it can be distributed.
Raymond James's Death Claims / Estate Settlement can be reached by phone at 1-800-647-7378 and email at clientservice@raymondjames.com for questions throughout the claims process.
If the deceased held multiple Raymond James investment accounts, each may require a separate claim or have different documentation requirements. The Death Claims / Estate Settlement can confirm which accounts require individual attention and which can be processed together.
Sources
Data sourced from Raymond James primary sources (25 pages reviewed). How we research.
Client Services
Raymond James Financial Center, 880 Carillon Parkway, St. Petersburg, FL 33716
Raymond James Trust, N.A.
Raymond James Trust, N.A., 880 Carillon Parkway, St. Petersburg, FL 33716
Death Claims / Estate Settlement
Raymond James Financial Center, 880 Carillon Parkway, St. Petersburg, FL 33716
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