I'm reviewing a CTR for a large cash deposit made to an account established as follows:

Smith, Jones, & Schaefer, LLP
Estate of Sally Johnson

The deposit was made to the account by Henry Johnson, the son of the deceased Sally Johnson.

We have a Part 1 for Smith, Jones & Schaefer, LLP (person on whose behalf transaction was conducted) and another Part 1 for Henry Johnson (person conducting transaction for another).

Should we prepare another Part 1 for the estate?

Absolutely yes.

I was confident this was the case, but thanks for the confirmation. I'll have the branch contact the law firm for the information.

I'm surprised that someone that it not authorized to transact business on the account (unless the son is actually authorized) was allowed to make such a deposit.

It's a great way to launder cash - just run it through the estate account.

Just a suggestion, as a best practice, the name of the decedent should be first in the account title. That's intended to facilitate the IRS TIN matching process.

Only curiosity on my part, but the order of appointment says the law firm is the personal representative? Most states require that it be an individual or a trust company.

I will find out more about how we are setting up these types of accounts. This branch has numerous accounts like this. I did notice that we had the Estate's TIN on the signature card for reporting purposes. However, the first name line is the law firm. I need to do some research.

Thanks guys.

Good; the EIN assigned to the estate "matches" to the first 4 characters in the decedent's last name.