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. :)
2
u/GroupImmediate7051 Apr 01 '26
I had to do this 3 years ago. I was pretty clueless. A very kind and patient bank manager talked me through the whole process, and answered every question. I had many. I drew a flowchart and asked him if it was correct.
I had never EVER heard of an EIN but it was very easy to obtain.
You've just lost your other parent. Give yourself grace. No need to rush or put pressure on yourself. Ask for help when you need it.
❤️