Can the Executor of a Will Access Bank Accounts in New York?

Yes. Once the Surrogate's Court issues letters testamentary, the executor can collect every bank account the decedent held in his or her sole name. The bank releases the funds against a recently certified copy of the letters, a certified death certificate, the executor's photo identification and a federal tax ID number for the estate. Before letters issue, nobody has that authority, including the person the will names as executor. New York law does offer two interim routes, preliminary letters under SCPA § 1412 and voluntary administration under SCPA Article 13, plus a narrow statutory exception for surviving spouses and certain relatives under SCPA § 1310.

This page covers the bank side of the job: what a named executor can do while waiting for letters, what New York banks actually ask for, how long the wait runs county by county, and what to do when a bank says no. For the probate petition itself, see our page on obtaining letters testamentary in New York.

Which Accounts the Executor Controls

Letters testamentary give you authority over estate assets only. How the account was titled decides whether it is one.

• Solely owned, no beneficiary designation: an estate asset. You need letters to touch it. If there is no will, the same account is collected by an administrator with letters of administration; see also what happens to a bank account with no beneficiary in New York.
• Payable-on-death or Totten trust account: passes to the named beneficiary under EPTL § 7-5.2 without probate. The beneficiary presents a death certificate and ID directly to the bank. The executor has no role unless the will expressly revokes the designation by describing the account and the beneficiary, which EPTL § 7-5.2(2) permits.
• Joint account with right of survivorship: under Banking Law § 675, the survivor owns it on death. The executor does not collect it. The survivorship presumption can be challenged if the account was opened for convenience only, a question addressed below. For the tax treatment, see are joint bank accounts subject to inheritance tax.
• Convenience account under Banking Law § 678: an account the decedent opened with a helper who was given signing rights but no ownership. It is an estate asset and the executor collects it.

You Are Named Executor but Letters Have Not Issued Yet

Most people searching this question are in the gap between the death and the court appointment. A nominated executor has duties during that gap but no power over the money. Here is the line.

What you can do now

• Secure the original will. File it with the probate petition in the Surrogate's Court of the county where the decedent lived.
• Notify each bank of the death. Bring or send a certified death certificate. The bank will freeze the account. The freeze stops debit card use and most automatic debits, and it protects the balance from anyone who knows the online password.
• Ask for a date-of-death balance. You will need the figure for the probate petition and for any estate tax return. Many banks will give a date-of-death balance letter to the named executor who presents the death certificate and a copy of the will. Some will not release it until letters issue. Ask; the worst answer is a short wait.
• Collect paperwork. Statements, account numbers, the decedent's Social Security number, and the names on each account. You will need them for the petition and for the bank's estate forms.
• Lock up checkbooks, cards and passwords. Do not use them.

What you cannot do

• Withdraw money, write a check or move funds from the decedent's account, even to pay a bill the decedent owed and even if you plan to repay the estate later.
• Use the decedent's debit card, ATM card or online banking. Using a deceased person's card or login with knowledge of the death can be treated as theft, and a bank that notices will report it.
• Close the account or change any beneficiary designation.
• Open the safe-deposit box without a court order (see below).

Paying the funeral before letters issue

Reasonable funeral expenses are the first-priority claim against a New York estate under SCPA § 1811. A family member who pays them is reimbursed from the estate account once it exists, ahead of other debts. Funeral homes in New York routinely accept an assignment of a life insurance policy. A POD or Totten beneficiary may spend those funds freely, because they belong to the beneficiary from the moment of death. A surviving spouse may also be able to collect a limited sum directly from the bank under SCPA § 1310, discussed next.

SCPA § 1310: limited payments without any letters

SCPA § 1310 lets a bank pay a capped amount from the decedent's account to a surviving spouse, and smaller capped amounts after 30 days to a surviving spouse, adult child, parent, sibling, niece or nephew, or to a person who paid the funeral, on an affidavit that no fiduciary has been appointed. The caps are set by statute (currently $30,000 for a surviving spouse, with lower limits for the other categories) and the bank is discharged when it pays in good faith. Banks apply this section unevenly. Some branches have never seen it. Bring the statute and the bank's own affidavit form, and confirm the current dollar limits before you rely on them.

Interim route one: preliminary letters testamentary under SCPA § 1412

If the estate cannot wait for full probate, the named executor may ask the court for preliminary letters. The petition is filed with or after the probate petition and the court can act on it before the citation process is finished. A preliminary executor may collect bank accounts, open an estate account, pay funeral and administration expenses and preserve assets. A preliminary executor may not distribute to beneficiaries without court permission (SCPA § 1412(3)). The court usually requires a bond unless the will dispenses with one, and it may still require a bond when it sees a reason. Preliminary letters are time-limited and renewable while probate remains pending. Banks treat certified preliminary letters the same way they treat full letters.

Interim route two: voluntary administration under SCPA Article 13

If the decedent's personal property totals $50,000 or less, exclusive of the exempt property set off to a spouse or minor children under EPTL § 5-3.1, full probate is not required. The person named as executor files a short affidavit under SCPA § 1304 with the original will, a death certificate and a $1 filing fee. The clerk issues a certificate for each listed asset. You present the certificate to the bank in place of letters. The funds are deposited into an account titled in your name as voluntary administrator of the estate. Real property does not count toward the $50,000 figure, but a voluntary administrator cannot deal with real property, so a solely owned house still needs full probate. The threshold is statutory and changes from time to time; confirm it with the court.

How Long Before Letters Issue: County by County

The Surrogate's Court, not the bank, controls the timeline. For an uncontested probate in which every distributee signs a waiver and consent, the ranges below are typical in our experience. They are not promises. All five New York City counties, along with Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester, accept electronic filing through NYSCEF, which shortens the paper handling but not the examiner's review.

Add time when a distributee will not sign a waiver and a citation must be issued and served, when a distributee is a minor or under disability and the court appoints a guardian ad litem, when the petition needs an affidavit of heirship, when a party demands examinations under SCPA § 1404, or when objections are filed. For a month-by-month walk-through, see a sample New York City probate timeline.

Before You Walk Into the Bank

1. Order certified copies of the letters. The clerk charges $6 per certificate. Order one for every bank, brokerage and transfer agent, plus two spares. Most New York banks want the certification date within the past 60 days; a few accept six months. If your letters are older than that, order fresh certificates before the visit.
2. Read the letters for restrictions. Under SCPA § 702 the court can limit a fiduciary, for example by prohibiting collection of assets above a stated amount without further order. The limitation is printed on the face of the letters. A bank that sees it will refuse to release more than the stated figure. If the accounts exceed the cap, you need a court order lifting the restriction, usually by filing a bond.
3. Get the estate's EIN. Apply on the IRS website using Form SS-4. Choose "Estate" as the entity type, enter the decedent's Social Security number and your own information as the responsible party. The number issues immediately and the IRS lets you download the confirmation letter (CP 575) at once. The bank will ask for that letter. The application is free; do not pay a third-party service for it.
4. Bring certified death certificates. For deaths in New York City, order from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; elsewhere in the state, from the New York State Department of Health or the local registrar. Some banks photocopy and return the certificate; others keep it.
5. Bring your own identification and, if the bank requires it, proof of your address.
6. Consider IRS Form 56. It notifies the IRS that you are acting as fiduciary and routes tax correspondence to you. It is optional but useful.

What New York Banks Actually Ask For

The large banks with New York branch networks, including Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, TD Bank, Capital One and Wells Fargo, each run estate matters through a central estate services unit rather than the branch. The branch banker takes your documents, scans them to the unit, and the unit reviews them. Expect the review to take several business days, sometimes longer, before the funds move. Community banks and credit unions typically handle the matter at the branch through a manager, often the same day. Policies at every institution change; call the estate line before you go and ask for the current document list.

Across institutions the request is consistent:

• Certified letters testamentary, letters of administration, preliminary letters, or an Article 13 certificate, within the bank's recency window.
• Certified death certificate.
• Your government-issued photo ID.
• The estate's EIN confirmation letter.
• The bank's estate account application and a Form W-9 completed in the estate's name and EIN.
• A signed letter of instruction stating what you want done with each account (close and transfer, retitle, issue a check).
• For brokerage accounts and transfer agents, an affidavit of domicile and often a medallion signature guarantee, which a bank branch provides for its own customers.

Opening the estate account

The bank closes the decedent's account and opens a new checking account titled along the lines of "Estate of [Decedent], [Your Name], Executor," under the estate's EIN. EPTL § 11-1.6 requires that estate funds be held in your name as fiduciary, never in your individual name, and never mixed with your own money. Every dollar in and out of this account will appear in the accounting you later give the beneficiaries or the court, so keep the statements and the receipt behind each check. See estate accountings in New York for what that accounting looks like.

Checks payable to the decedent that arrive after death (refunds, dividends, final wages) are deposited into the estate account with an endorsement in your fiduciary capacity. Interest earned after death belongs to the estate and is reported under the EIN on Form 1041 if the estate's gross income reaches $600 in a year.

When the Bank Refuses Your Letters

Refusals happen, and most have a fixable cause. Work through them in this order.

1. Check the certification date. If it is outside the bank's window, order new certificates from the clerk.
2. Check the face of the letters for a § 702 limitation. If the account exceeds the cap, the bank is right to refuse. Apply to the court to lift the limitation.
3. Confirm the account is actually an estate asset. The bank may be refusing because the account carries a POD designation or a surviving joint owner. Ask the bank to tell you, in writing, how the account is titled.
4. Ask for the estate services unit, not the teller. Branch staff see few estate matters. The unit sees them all day.
5. Put the demand in writing. A letter from the executor, or from counsel, enclosing the letters and citing EPTL § 11-1.1 and the letters themselves, resolves most remaining refusals.
6. Petition the court. A bank that holds estate property and will not turn it over is a proper respondent in a discovery and turnover proceeding under SCPA § 2103. This is rare, because banks comply once the paperwork is right.

Accounts at Banks Without a New York Branch

Online banks and out-of-state institutions handle estates by mail or secure upload. They want the same documents, usually with a notarized letter of instruction, and they pay by check made out to the estate. You deposit the check into the estate account you opened at a New York bank. Build in several weeks for the round trip and ask whether the institution wants original certified letters or will accept a scanned copy.

The reverse situation also arises: the decedent lived in another state or country and left an account at a New York bank. New York banks sometimes accept the out-of-state fiduciary's letters for a deposit account, and sometimes insist on New York authority. If the bank insists, the out-of-state executor needs ancillary letters from a New York Surrogate's Court.

Safe-Deposit Boxes: SCPA § 2003

A safe-deposit box in the decedent's sole name is sealed at death. Before letters issue, SCPA § 2003 lets an interested person petition the court for an order permitting the box to be opened in the presence of a bank officer to look for a will, a deed to a burial plot and life insurance policies. The will is delivered to the court and the insurance policies to the named beneficiaries; everything else stays in the box. Once you hold letters, you may open the box, inventory its contents and remove them for the estate. Many banks ask that an inventory be taken in the presence of a bank employee; agree to it, since it protects you later.

Taking Money Without Authority

The procedure above exists to protect the executor as much as the beneficiaries. A person who draws on a dead account holder's funds without letters, or an executor who pays personal expenses from the estate account, can be surcharged, denied commissions and removed, and can face criminal exposure. Those remedies are explained on our pages about breach of fiduciary duty by an executor, the SCPA § 2103 turnover proceeding and removing an executor or administrator.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a bank refuse to honor letters testamentary?

A bank can refuse letters that are stale, that carry a § 702 limitation the account exceeds, or that are presented for an account that is not an estate asset. A bank cannot lawfully refuse valid, current, unrestricted letters for a solely owned account. If it does, the executor may compel turnover under SCPA § 2103.

Can the executor keep using the decedent's existing account instead of opening an estate account?

No. The decedent's account is tied to the decedent's Social Security number, and EPTL § 11-1.6 requires estate funds to be held in your name as fiduciary. Some banks will retitle the existing account to the estate under the new EIN rather than open a new one. Either way the account must bear the estate's name and EIN and your name as executor.

The bank already paid a joint account to the surviving joint owner, but the will leaves that money to someone else. What now?

The will does not control a true joint account; survivorship under Banking Law § 675 does. The bank that paid the survivor is discharged. The executor's recourse is against the survivor, by a turnover proceeding under SCPA § 2103, on proof by clear and convincing evidence that the account was opened for the decedent's convenience and not as a gift. Bank records showing who deposited the funds and who used them are the usual evidence.

Does the executor have to keep the estate account at a bank in New York?

No statute requires a New York bank. EPTL § 11-1.6 requires the account to be in your fiduciary name, wherever it sits. A bank with New York branches is still the practical choice. It will accept your letters without the extra verification an out-of-state branch may demand, and the court and beneficiaries can review the records without difficulty.

Can a surviving spouse get money from the account before probate?

In limited amounts, yes. SCPA § 1310 allows a bank to pay a surviving spouse a capped sum on an affidavit that no fiduciary has been appointed. A spouse is also entitled to exempt property under EPTL § 5-3.1, which includes a cash amount set by statute, but banks generally release that only to a fiduciary. For anything beyond the § 1310 cap, the spouse needs letters, preliminary letters or an Article 13 certificate.

What if the executor named in the will lives outside New York?

A non-resident may serve as executor in New York, though the court may require a bond. A non-domiciliary who is not a United States citizen may serve only alongside a New York resident co-fiduciary under SCPA § 707. The bank interaction is the same; the practical difficulty is appearing in person at a New York branch, which most banks require for the first visit.

Statutes Referenced

• EPTL § 11-1.1 (fiduciaries' powers)
• EPTL § 11-1.6 (estate property to be kept separate and held in fiduciary name)
• EPTL § 7-5.2 (Totten trust accounts)
• SCPA § 1412 (preliminary letters testamentary)
• SCPA Article 13 (small estates and voluntary administration), including § 1304 and § 1310
• SCPA § 702 (limitations on letters)
• SCPA § 1811 (priority of funeral expenses and debts)
• SCPA § 2003 (examination of safe-deposit box)
• SCPA § 2103 (discovery and turnover of estate property)
• Banking Law § 675 (joint accounts) and Banking Law § 678 (convenience accounts)

Speak With a New York Estate Attorney

If you have been named executor and a bank is holding the estate's funds, or you need preliminary letters or an Article 13 certificate to reach an account before probate is complete, the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin can help. We handle probate, letters testamentary and estate administration in the Surrogate's Courts of New York City, Long Island and Westchester. Call 212-233-1233 or email [email protected].

This page was written and reviewed by Albert Goodwin, Esq., a New York estate attorney who practices in the Surrogate's Courts of New York City and the surrounding counties. It is general information about New York law and is not legal advice for any particular estate. Statutory dollar thresholds and bank policies change; confirm current figures with the court and the institution.