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#814846 - 09/13/07 08:46 PM estate accounts
fraud gals 01 Offline
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 3
Is an Estate account required to have an EIN?

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BSA/AML/CIP/OFAC Forum
#814982 - 09/13/07 10:37 PM Re: estate accounts fraud gals 01
John Burnett Offline
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John Burnett
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,086
Cape Cod
Absolutely yes. A decedent's estate is a separate legal entity. It must have its own EIN and you must obtain it in your CIP process.
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#817646 - 09/18/07 10:06 PM Re: estate accounts John Burnett
vmosby Offline
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1
Little Rock,AR
We have a check given to us by a law firm...it is made payable in this format....Lawyer & Lawyer fbo Estate of Jane Doe...the lawyer wants to open a money market account under the tax ID number of the law firm...he says he is earning the interest and putting it towards the legal fees...

I think it should be opened under a tax ID for the Estate with the law firm as trustee...

Who is right?

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#817853 - 09/19/07 01:30 PM Re: estate accounts vmosby
LoisLane Offline
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LoisLane
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,570
Wisteria Lane..
I agree with you that the estate needs it's own TIN.

When a federal bankrupcy court appoints a trustee over a bankrupt estate, each estate account has it's own TIN. Fees for the trustee are paid from the account, just as this attorney refrerences his legal fees.
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#819314 - 09/20/07 04:31 PM Re: estate accounts LoisLane
BrendaC Offline
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BrendaC
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,029
Sweet Home AL
IRS form instructions are useful in understanding what TINs should be used for various entities. Look at the instructions for form SS4 and W-9. You can pull them easily from the irs.gov Web Site.
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#819350 - 09/20/07 04:42 PM Re: estate accounts BrendaC
Al Miller Offline
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Al Miller
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 2,416
Pleasanton CA USA
I'm not sure this is an estate account in the normal sense.

Might this be an Attorney Client Trust Account for a specific beneficiary. Is the estate suing someone for wrongful death or some such thing? Then the attorney request makes sense.


Al
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Opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily shared by my employer.

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