How and when to set up an estate bank account

Most executors and administrators of estates will at some point set up a bank account for processing financial transactions on the estate. Even when an executor or administrator has hired a lawyer to apply to the court for probate or administration, he usually still has to set up an account. The alternative is to run all transactions through the lawyer's trust account, which becomes expensive.

When the account is opened will depend largely on whether you are an executor (i.e. appointed by a valid will) or an administrator (i.e. appointed by the courts in the absence of a valid will). An administrator has no authority whatsoever to take charge of the deceased's money until he or she is appointed by the court. In other words, he or she can't open an account until the court provides them with a document putting them in charge.

If you're an executor, however, you can open the account at any time once you take charge of the estate. Your authority to do this comes from the will, not the probate. The name on the account should make it clear that this is not your personal money and that you are holding it in the name of the estate. If the deceased is John Smith and you, the executor or administrator, are Mary Smith, the account should be called either "The Estate of John Smith" or "Mary Smith, Executor of the Estate of John Smith".

Executors usually don't wait for the court to issue a probate document before opening the account. While the probate application is being processed, you, as executor, will usually apply for the CPP death benefit, collect any outstanding wages, benefits and refunds, and pick up any cash lying around the deceased's home. All of those things and more may be deposited into the estate account before the grant of probate is issued. As time goes on, you will add other assets to the account, such as when you cash in GICs, sell the deceased's home or transfer over the proceeds of the deceased's bank account.

If you receive cheques made out to the deceased person, they don't have to be re-issued to the estate. They can be deposited to the estate account as they are.