How Do I Write a Letter of Instruction to T. Rowe Price?

Send it to T. Rowe Price's estate/claims department: 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. You can reach the department at 1-800-225-5132.

T. Rowe Price lists these among its 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. The prepared letter includes an enclosure checklist drawn from T. Rowe Price's recorded requirements.

Varies by account type and documentation completeness

T. Rowe Price 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.