How Do I Open an Estate Account at East West Bank?
East West Bank publishes no estate-account opening procedure. What its guidance does cover, and its estate services contacts.
Estate accounts at East West Bank
What to know at East West Bank
East West Bank publishes no page, form, or agreement clause describing how a court-appointed executor or administrator opens a NEW deposit account titled to the estate. The Deposit Account Agreement (effective 6/1/2024, re-fetched 2026-07-16) lists its account ownership types exhaustively — Individual, Joint Tenancy (with and without survivorship), Tenants in Common, Community Property, "In Trust"/Totten/POD, Documented Trust, UTMA, Partnership, Sole Proprietorship, Corporation, LLC, Attorney-Client Trust (IOLTA), and Retirement — and names NO estate, executor, administrator, or personal-representative account type. Its only estate-representative language is on the death-claim side: the bank "may require letters testamentary or other appropriate documentation" before considering PAYMENT from a decedent's existing account to the heirs or personal representative — that clause governs claiming the decedent's funds, not opening the estate's own account. The Consumer Fee Schedule contains no estate or fiduciary account line. The commercial "Specialty Fiduciary Deposits" service (855-637-6888) is for bankruptcy/restructuring fiduciaries — Chapter 7/11/13 trustees, receivers, claims administrators — and does not name probate executors or administrators. No channel for estate-account opening is stated anywhere, so all channels are recorded as unclear rather than inferred; an executor would need to ask customer service (1-888-895-5650) or a branch directly.
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
East West Bank publishes no estate-account opening procedure, and its guidance does not state whether estate accounts are offered. Its estate services team can confirm directly.
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.
Sources
Data sourced from East West Bank primary sources (5 pages reviewed). How we research.
