How Do I Open an Estate Account at Northern Trust?
Northern Trust's estate-account opening requirements: where the account can be opened, the documents to bring, and the EIN requirement.
Opening an estate account at Northern Trust
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
- Court-order documentation of the appointment (the deposit agreement admits fiduciary accounts opened by personal representatives, executors, administrators, or conservators "under court orders" — Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration are that court order)
- Identifying information for the person opening the account — name, address, date of birth, and a driver's license or other identifying documents, per the federal customer-identification notice in the deposit agreement
What to know at Northern Trust
Northern Trust's deposit agreement (Deposit Account Terms and Conditions, effective August 1, 2025) affirmatively admits estate accounts: its FIDUCIARY ACCOUNTS section names personal representatives, executors, and administrators under court orders as account openers, and adds that by merely opening such an account Northern Trust "is not acting in the capacity of a trustee" and undertakes no obligation to monitor or enforce the terms of the trust or letters. What Northern Trust does NOT publish is any opening procedure or channel: there is no online application, no estate-account page, and no published document checklist beyond the agreement itself — the banking-services page routes everything through "Consult an Advisor," so expect the account to be opened through a Northern Trust Banking Advisor or the wealth-management relationship (Client Services, 1-866-876-9944). No minimum deposit is published for an estate account — the $25,000 combined minimum initial deposit in the fee schedule is stated for PERSONAL checking, savings, and CD accounts only, and the fee schedule never mentions estate or fiduciary registrations. No Letters recency window and no EIN-before-opening rule are published for the bank. Boundary note: the separate NORTHERN FUNDS mutual-fund New Account Application (a fund-company shareholder account, not a bank deposit account; Northern Funds are distributed by an entity the fund states is not affiliated with Northern Trust) does offer an "Estate" registration by mail and states its own recency rule — "For an estate account, you must include a copy of the letters testamentary or other official documentation certified within 60 days" — that 60-day rule belongs to Northern Funds, not to a Northern Trust bank account. This section describes Northern Trust as the DEPOSITORY for an estate account the executor controls; Northern Trust serving AS executor (Estate Settlement Services) is a different engagement covered in the death-claim notes.
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
Northern Trust's published guidance does not state whether an estate account can be opened online.
Northern Trust asks for: Court-order documentation of the appointment (the deposit agreement admits fiduciary accounts opened by personal representatives, executors, administrators, or conservators "under court orders" — Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration are that court order); Identifying information for the person opening the account — name, address, date of birth, and a driver's license or other identifying documents, per the federal customer-identification notice in the deposit agreement.
Northern Trust's published guidance does not state a co-executor appearance rule. When more than one executor or administrator was appointed, confirm with Northern Trust 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.
Sources
Data sourced from Northern Trust primary sources (4 pages reviewed). How we research.
