How Do I Open an Estate Account at Independent Bank?

Independent Bank publishes no estate-account opening procedure. What its guidance does cover, and its estate services contacts.

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Estate accounts at Independent Bank

Estate accounts

Not addressed in Independent Bank's published guidance

What to know at Independent Bank

Independent Bank (Michigan) publishes no information about opening an estate (probate) deposit account. A full sweep of independentbank.com (2026-07-16) -- the sitemap, the Support Center FAQ page, the Application Center, and domain-pinned searches for estate/executor/personal-representative/deceased-account content -- found no estate-account product page, no deceased-customer page, and no estate or fiduciary account application. Section 9 of the Deposit Account Agreement (TruStage ITEM 640MIL1, 45/2025) acknowledges "joint, trust, fiduciary or custodial" accounts generically but never names executors, administrators, or personal representatives as account openers, so it does not establish that estate accounts are offered. Section 10 confirms that an individual account "passes as part of the party's estate" at death but says nothing about the estate opening its own account. The Application Center's online opening flows cover only "Open a Personal Account Online" (checking, savings, HSA) and "Open a Business Account Online" (business checking and savings) -- no fiduciary or estate option is listed, though the bank does not affirmatively state estate accounts cannot be opened online. An executor or personal representative should contact the Customer Connection Hub at 800-355-0641 (Mon-Fri 8 AM - 8 PM ET, Sat 8 AM - 5 PM ET), use the Schedule an Appointment option on the Application Center page, or visit a branch to ask about opening an account titled to the estate.

Estate services: 800-300-0459View Independent 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

Independent 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.