Does Optum Bank Offer an Estate Account?
Optum Bank does not open estate accounts. What its published terms say, and where the estate's account can be opened instead.
Estate accounts at Optum Bank
What to know at Optum Bank
Optum Bank does not open estate (probate) deposit accounts. Every account it offers is a tax-advantaged health-benefit account -- HSA, FSA, HRA, Dependent Care FSA, Medicare Advantage MSA, or Commuter Benefits -- and its Custodial and Deposit Agreement is written exclusively to the HSA, which it defines as "an individual custodial account arrangement between you and us." There is no fiduciary-account, entity-account, or estate-account opening provision anywhere on optumbank.com. The only place an executor or administrator appears in Optum Bank's documents is on the claiming side: when an HSA owner dies with the estate as default recipient, the estate representative presents letters testamentary or letters of administration to have the decedent's HSA paid out and closed (see deathClaimProcess). The proceeds must land in an estate account opened at a general depository institution -- Optum Bank cannot be that institution.
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
No. Optum Bank's published terms do not allow an account titled to an estate.
At any bank that offers estate accounts. The account belongs to the estate, not to the deceased, so it does not need to be where the deceased banked.
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 Optum Bank primary sources (2 pages reviewed). How we research.
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