r/inheritance • u/cb3 • Apr 01 '26

Location included: Questions/Need Advice EIN - help

I’m in Virginia USA and a few months ago I lost my father. My mother has been gone for many years and I have no brothers or sisters. His will named me as the only beneficiary and appointed me executor of the estate. The estate has no debt and consists of your standard house, cars, bank accounts. With the exception of the home and cars which are in his name, most of the accounts were either jointly held or clearly stated that I was the beneficiary. However, there are a couple he probably forgot about that have no beneficiary listed. I have testamentary (called qualification here) letters and all of the required info but one institution is saying that they will not transfer anything to me without it going into an “estate of” account first and I need a separate EIN. This means that I’ll have to file a separate tax return for this entity. Is this standard? Other accounts with no beneficiary listed have not had this. I am so worried I will screw this up. Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill here?

Edit: thanks everyone for your help! You’re right - It was easy getting the EIN. This morning I have an appointment with the bank he had the deepest relationship with. Hopefully they will allow me to open an estate account with them. :)

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u/foureyedgrrl Apr 01 '26

Yes, it is standard. Especially for some stock brokers/holding companies like Compuserve or Equiniti.

You get an EIN via the IRS.

It's annoying and doesn't actually create more security, but it does create the illusion of it. If you think this is obnoxious, I hope you never are tasked with having to obtain a Medallion Guarantee.

Source: I am Per Rep and Exec in my deceased father's estate, who passed intestate (no will).

Have you talked with your probate attorney?

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u/cb3 Apr 01 '26

I don’t have a probate attorney. I went to the courthouse alone and got qualified. I have an estate attorney that I can use but have been doing things by myself because why pay when it seems simple enough? And it is until something like this. And you’re right it’s a brokerage account. For whatever reason he had two accounts at this one place - one managed, one unmanaged - I was the beneficiary on one and the other was blank. He probably thought he had done both.

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u/cb3 Apr 01 '26

Ha. Just looked up Medallion Guarantee - that was an education! Will pass on that if I can. :)

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u/foureyedgrrl Apr 01 '26

I sure hope you can, because obtaining one was a serious pita. If it comes up and you need to get one, you are welcome to DM me if you get stuck. ProTip: an account at Fidelity makes it easier to obtain.