The short answer
It's safer not to. Get a tax number for the estate from the IRS, which is free. Then open an account in the estate's name, and run every dollar through it.
Keeping the estate's money apart from yours is part of the job. It also builds the record that protects you if anyone later asks where the money went.
This chapter explains how things usually work in the United States. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and the rules where you live may differ. Before you act on anything here, check it with one of the people named at the end of the chapter.
What to do
- Get an EIN for the estate from the IRS, online or by mail on Form SS-4.
- File Form 56 once you have the information it asks for.
- Ask your bank what it needs, then open an account in the estate's name.
- Move estate money into it, and pay estate bills only from it.
- Start The estate record at the back of this book, and keep every receipt.
- Ask your lawyer or the court how the estate can repay what you spent.
- Prepare the inventory by the deadline your court gives.
What can wait
- Investing anything, until you've asked what your state allows.
- The second Form 56, which ends your role. It comes when the estate is finished.
- Closing the account. That comes after the inheritance is handed out.
Who can help
The IRS can answer questions about the EIN and Form 56. Your bank's estate team can tell you what it needs for the account.
An accountant can help you set up the record and tell you which tax returns the estate needs. The probate court clerk can give you the inventory deadline where your parent lived.
The rules, phone numbers and web addresses in this book were checked against the agencies’, courts’ and organizations’ own pages in October 2026. Where a rule differs by state, the book names one state as an example. Check anything you rely on with the office itself.
From Book 2: Being in Charge
This page has the short answer and the closing lists from chapter 9. The full chapter explains, in plain words, what exists, what to ask, and who can answer. The book covers months 1 to 9 after the death.
Questions near this one
Other questions on related subjects, from this book and the others.
- When can I hand out the inheritance? Book 2, Being in Charge
- How do I stop identity theft on a dead person's accounts? Book 3, Their Money
- What happens to a 401(k) or IRA, and who pays tax on it? Book 3, Their Money
- Who files the final tax return, and when? Book 3, Their Money
Hear when Being in Charge is out
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