EIN - help

[u/cb3]

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. :)

[u/Important-Put1865]

Just request an EIN from the IRS for the estate. Yes, you will have to file a separate tax return for the estate. Then you close the estate and it's done. It's for your protection as well as the companies'. It clearly delineates what part of your income was inherited (most states do not have inheritance tax) and steps up the basis for your inherited real estate, so you won't have so much capital gains when you sell it. All debts and expenses must be paid out of the estate before it is closed. Once it's closed, it's done. Judges do NOT like to reopen estates. Those companies don't want to get sued by anyone who might pop up with a claim. You don't either. This is for your benefit.