What to do when a T. Rowe Price account holder dies
Contact T. Rowe Price — 5-step process, 8 required documents, and varies by account type and documentation completeness
Customer Service
Mutual fund: T. Rowe Price, Account Services, P.O. Box 17302, Baltimore, MD 21297-1300. Brokerage: T. Rowe Price Brokerage, Account Services, P.O. Box 17468, Baltimore, MD 21298-8275. Small business retirement: T. Rowe Price Retirement Client Services, P.O. Box 17350, Baltimore, MD 21297-1350. Overnight for all: 4515 Painters Mill Road, Owings Mills, MD 21117-4903 (with the matching Mail Code)
Customer Service
Mutual fund: T. Rowe Price, Account Services, P.O. Box 17302, Baltimore, MD 21297-1300. Brokerage: T. Rowe Price Brokerage, Account Services, P.O. Box 17468, Baltimore, MD 21298-8275. Small business retirement: T. Rowe Price Retirement Client Services, P.O. Box 17350, Baltimore, MD 21297-1350. Overnight for all: 4515 Painters Mill Road, Owings Mills, MD 21117-4903 (with the matching Mail Code)
Life Events (Death Notification)
T. Rowe Price, Account Services, P.O. Box 17302, Baltimore, MD 21297-1302 (overnight: Mail Code 17302, 4515 Painters Mill Road, Owings Mills, MD 21117-4903). Small business retirement plans: T. Rowe Price Retirement Client Services, P.O. Box 17350, Baltimore, MD 21297-1350
When an account holder at T. Rowe Price 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 T. Rowe Price's Life Events (Death Notification) (1-800-225-5132) to access and distribute the funds.
T. Rowe Price provides an online portal for initiating death claims, which can simplify the initial notification and document submission process. Claims can also be started by phone or by mailing the required documents.
Death claim process
Follow these steps to file a death claim with T. Rowe Price:
Filing a claim
- Online at https://www.troweprice.com/personal-investing/resources/planning/life-events/inherited-account/death-notification.html -- three steps: the decedent's name plus at least one other identifier (address, date of birth, SSN, or account number); a digital copy of the death certificate (which you may supply later); and your own contact details
- Or call 1-800-225-5132, or write to P.O. Box 17302, Baltimore, MD 21297-1302
- On receipt, T. Rowe Price FREEZES the decedent's accounts and suspends account services. If it cannot locate an account from what you gave it, nothing is suspended until you supply more identifying information
- IRAs (including brokerage IRAs): IRA Claim and Distribution for Beneficiaries (https://www.troweprice.com/content/dam/iinvestor/Forms/ira-claim-and-distribution.pdf)
- Taxable accounts: Ownership Change form, plus a New Account form. Per the Ownership Change Due to Life Events guide, EACH inheriting beneficiary completes a SEPARATE Ownership Change form and a SEPARATE New Account form, and the beneficiary's signature needs a Medallion signature guarantee
- No beneficiary on file: the Ownership Change form moves the assets into an estate account -- signatures are required from all executors, and you must provide the estate TIN on the New Account form
- Assets passing to a trust named as beneficiary: submit the trust pages showing trust name, date, current trustees, and signatures (plus the Brokerage Trustee Certification form if the account carries margin or options)
- Small Business Retirement Plans (SEP-IRA, SIMPLE IRA, 403(b), Individual 401(k), Money Purchase, Profit Sharing): call 1-800-492-7670 -- these cannot be handled through the online or standard forms path
Required Documents
- Original or certified copy of the death certificate for each deceased owner (raised seal or issuer-signed "certified copy" stamp -- photocopies are not accepted)
- Government-issued ID for claimant
- Letters Testamentary or Administration, or the applicable state small estate affidavit (see the certification-window conflict in the notes)
- Inheritance tax waiver, if required by the decedent's state
- IRA Claim and Distribution for Beneficiaries form (IRA accounts)
- Ownership Change form plus a New Account form (taxable accounts) -- one set per inheriting beneficiary
- Medallion signature guarantee on the Ownership Change form (not obtainable from a notary public)
- Trust pages showing trust name, date, current trustees, and signatures (where a trust is the named beneficiary)
Claims Contact
What to know at this institution
LETTERS TESTAMENTARY CERTIFICATION WINDOW -- TWO T. ROWE PRICE SOURCES CONFLICT. The Inheritance and Account Management page states Letters Testamentary must be "certified by the court within 60 days." The Ownership Change Due to Life Events Information Guide (COWNbrochure.pdf) repeatedly states "certified within 6 months." Order the Letters no earlier than needed and confirm the current window with the Life Events team at 1-800-225-5132 before mailing, because a stale certification is the most common reason these packets are returned. Anyone may file the initial death notification, but only an authorized party (executor, beneficiary) can give instructions affecting the account. The online notification tool cannot be used for 529 plans (Maryland College Investment Plan, Alaska 529, T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan), small business retirement accounts (403(b)(7), Individual 401(k), SIMPLE, SEP, SAR-SEP), or Workplace Retirement Plans -- call instead. Death notification: 1-800-225-5132. Small Business Retirement Plans: 1-800-492-7670. Financial Consultants (inherited accounts): 1-800-638-5660 or 1-800-332-6161, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET. Cost basis: beneficiaries receive fair market value basis on their share unless the personal representative provides a different percentage, and T. Rowe Price divides tax lots equally unless the personal representative instructs otherwise; to elect an alternate valuation date, provide the date of death on the form and attach a separate page with the alternate valuation date and the value.
Prepare your letter of instruction to T. Rowe Price
T. Rowe Price 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 T. Rowe Price: Varies by account type and documentation completeness. Delays are almost always caused by incomplete paperwork—gathering all required documents before filing the initial claim helps avoid back-and-forth.
Documentation required by T. Rowe Price includes Original or certified copy of the death certificate for each deceased owner (raised seal or issuer-signed "certified copy" stamp -- photocopies are not accepted), Government-issued ID for claimant, and Letters Testamentary or Administration, or the applicable state small estate affidavit (see the certification-window conflict in the notes), along with additional paperwork that varies by account type. All death certificates and court documents must be certified copies.
Frequently asked questions
Maryland law. The T. Rowe Price Beneficiaries - Transfer on Death form registers the TOD under the MARYLAND Uniform Transfer on Death Security Registration Act, because T. Rowe Price is a Baltimore firm -- this applies regardless of the state you live in. Practical consequences from the form itself: TOD is only available for accounts owned by one individual or by joint owners with rights of survivorship; you may not name yourself or your estate as a beneficiary, and an owner or joint owner may not be listed as one; you cannot write estate distribution provisions into the designation, since beneficiaries take on a per capita basis unless you say otherwise; the designation must be identical across all identically registered accounts and applies automatically to any identically registered account you open later; and on the death of a joint owner it carries over to the surviving owner's account. Trusts may be named as TOD beneficiaries.
Two T. Rowe Price sources give different windows, so confirm before you order the Letters. The Inheritance and Account Management page states Letters Testamentary must be certified by the court within 60 days. The Ownership Change Due to Life Events Information Guide states within 6 months. A state small estate affidavit may substitute where it applies. Because a stale certification is a common reason these packets are returned, call 1-800-225-5132 and confirm the current requirement, then order the certified copy close to the date you mail. T. Rowe Price requires the Letters when an estate account is being opened, and also when a beneficiary requests a cost basis other than fair market value, when the account is community property or tenants in common, or when a surviving owner disclaims.
The online notification at troweprice.com is unusually open -- anyone may file it, not just an executor or beneficiary, and you need only the decedent's name plus one identifier such as an address or date of birth, with the death certificate uploaded later. Filing it freezes the accounts and suspends services, which is what protects them. But its terms exclude several account types: the Maryland College Investment Plan, Alaska 529, the T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan, small business retirement accounts (403(b)(7), Individual 401(k), SIMPLE, SEP, and SAR-SEP), and Workplace Retirement Plans. For those you must call -- 1-800-492-7670 for small business retirement plans, 1-800-225-5132 otherwise. Filing the notification does not make you an authorized party; T. Rowe Price will still only take instructions affecting the account from an executor or beneficiary.
T. Rowe Price's Life Events (Death Notification) can be reached by phone at 1-800-225-5132 and email at info@troweprice.com for questions throughout the claims process.
If the deceased held multiple T. Rowe Price investment accounts, each may require a separate claim or have different documentation requirements. The Life Events (Death Notification) can confirm which accounts require individual attention and which can be processed together.
Sources
Data sourced from T. Rowe Price primary sources (21 pages reviewed). How we research.
Customer Service
Mutual fund: T. Rowe Price, Account Services, P.O. Box 17302, Baltimore, MD 21297-1300. Brokerage: T. Rowe Price Brokerage, Account Services, P.O. Box 17468, Baltimore, MD 21298-8275. Small business retirement: T. Rowe Price Retirement Client Services, P.O. Box 17350, Baltimore, MD 21297-1350. Overnight for all: 4515 Painters Mill Road, Owings Mills, MD 21117-4903 (with the matching Mail Code)
Customer Service
Mutual fund: T. Rowe Price, Account Services, P.O. Box 17302, Baltimore, MD 21297-1300. Brokerage: T. Rowe Price Brokerage, Account Services, P.O. Box 17468, Baltimore, MD 21298-8275. Small business retirement: T. Rowe Price Retirement Client Services, P.O. Box 17350, Baltimore, MD 21297-1350. Overnight for all: 4515 Painters Mill Road, Owings Mills, MD 21117-4903 (with the matching Mail Code)
Life Events (Death Notification)
T. Rowe Price, Account Services, P.O. Box 17302, Baltimore, MD 21297-1302 (overnight: Mail Code 17302, 4515 Painters Mill Road, Owings Mills, MD 21117-4903). Small business retirement plans: T. Rowe Price Retirement Client Services, P.O. Box 17350, Baltimore, MD 21297-1350
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