How Do I Write a Letter of Instruction to State Street?

Send it to State Street's estate/claims department: State Street Global Advisors, c/o U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC, P.O. Box 219238, Kansas City, MO 64121-9238 | Overnight: 615 East Michigan Street, Milwaukee, WI 53202-5207. You can reach the department at 1-800-242-0134.

State Street lists these among its required documents: Certified copy of death certificate; Valid government-issued photo ID for claimant (beneficiary, executor, or successor trustee); Completed Survivor Reregistration and Redemption Options Form (for mutual fund accounts); For TOD accounts: identification for each TOD beneficiary. The prepared letter includes an enclosure checklist drawn from State Street's recorded requirements.

Processing times vary; contact the Shareholder Service Center for current estimates after submitting documentation

State Street provides its own letter-of-instruction form. We complete that official form with your information; you print, sign, and send it.

It depends on the capacity you are acting in. An executor or administrator encloses Letters Testamentary (when there is a will) or Letters of Administration (when there is not); a successor trustee encloses a certificate of trust; a successor under a small estate encloses that state’s small estate affidavit. The prepared letter lists the proof-of-authority document for your role alongside the institution’s required documents.

A letter of instruction is the written request an institution asks for when settling a deceased customer’s account. It identifies the decedent and the account, states the capacity you are acting in, and tells the institution what to do with the account.