How Do I Open an Estate Account at Cathay Bank?

Cathay Bank's estate-account opening requirements: where the account can be opened, the documents to bring, and the EIN requirement.

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Opening an estate account at Cathay Bank

Where to open it

Not stated — contact Cathay Bank

Opening channels

In a branch: Not stated
Online: Not stated
By phone: Not stated
By mail: Not stated
Appointment: Not stated
Co-executors: Not stated

Documents to bring

Documents and authorizations, satisfactory to Cathay Bank, establishing the fiduciary's authority over the funds -- the Deposit Account Agreement's Fiduciary Accounts clause reserves the right to require them at account opening and at all times thereafter, but publishes no specific list (for an estate, the court-issued Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration are the instrument that establishes that authority)
A certified taxpayer identification number for the account (IRS Form W-9) -- the agreement states Cathay Bank may refuse to open any account without one; an estate's TIN is its EIN
Identifying information for each person opening the account or added as a signer -- name, address, date of birth, and identifying documents such as a driver's license -- under the agreement's Identification & USA Patriot Act section

What to know at Cathay Bank

Cathay Bank publishes no estate-account product page and no estate-account opening procedure. The evidence that estate accounts are opened at all is the bank's own Deposit Account Agreement (version dated 2025-12-15, fetched 2026-07-16): its Fiduciary Accounts clause names "estate" first among the fiduciary account types the bank takes documents for "at the time of Account opening," so the account category exists -- but every operational detail (channel, appointment, which account products an estate may hold, minimum deposit, co-executor signature rules) is unpublished and marked unclear rather than assumed. The digital account opening path (cathaybank.com/open-an-account) offers only named "Digital Personal" products (Digital Personal Checking, Digital Interest Checking, Digital Statement Savings, Digital Money Market, Digital Personal CDs) to residents of CA, IL, MD, MA, NV, NJ, NY, TX, and WA, and presents no fiduciary or estate titling option -- though it does not affirmatively exclude one. On the EIN: the agreement's IRS Subpart B section states "We may refuse to open, and we may close, any Account for which you do not provide a certified TIN," and an estate's TIN is its EIN, but the clause is permissive and not estate-specific, so einRequiredBeforeOpening stays unclear. Executors should expect the same branch-and-phone routing the bank uses for all deceased-account matters (Customer Service Center 1-800-922-8429; no online claims or estate portal), and should ask the branch which deposit product the estate account will be opened under.

Estate services: 1-877-722-8429View Cathay Bank's guidance

This guide summarizes each bank's published estate-account requirements and is not legal or banking advice. Requirements may vary by state and account type.

Frequently Asked Questions

Cathay Bank's published guidance does not state whether an estate account can be opened online.

Cathay Bank asks for: Documents and authorizations, satisfactory to Cathay Bank, establishing the fiduciary's authority over the funds -- the Deposit Account Agreement's Fiduciary Accounts clause reserves the right to require them at account opening and at all times thereafter, but publishes no specific list (for an estate, the court-issued Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration are the instrument that establishes that authority); A certified taxpayer identification number for the account (IRS Form W-9) -- the agreement states Cathay Bank may refuse to open any account without one; an estate's TIN is its EIN; Identifying information for each person opening the account or added as a signer -- name, address, date of birth, and identifying documents such as a driver's license -- under the agreement's Identification & USA Patriot Act section.

Cathay Bank's published guidance does not state a co-executor appearance rule. When more than one executor or administrator was appointed, confirm with Cathay Bank whether all must attend.

An estate account is a bank account titled to the estate itself — not to the person who died and not to the executor personally. The court-appointed executor or administrator opens it to deposit money owed to the estate (final paychecks, refunds, proceeds from closed accounts), pay the estate's debts and expenses, and distribute what remains. Checks made out to "the Estate of" can only be deposited into an account titled this way.

The estate is its own taxpayer, separate from the person who died. Banks open estate accounts under the estate's Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS, not the deceased's Social Security Number. The free EIN application prepares IRS Form SS-4 for the estate.