What is an estate account?
An estate account is a temporary bank account in the estate's name. It allows administrators/executors of the deceased to transfer any monies/proceeds/income from the deceased's estate to the estate account. This helps separate the deceased’s estate from the administrators/executors’ assets. Any expenses regarding the estate will also be paid from the estate account.
Separating personal and estate bank accounts have the added benefit of easily identifying where any additional generated income comes from. Think of banks with tiered interest rates for example, how would you determine how much of the interest is from the estate (and hence would go to the beneficiaries) and how much is from the administrators/executors?
Additionally, sometimes financial institutions such as banks or even insurers pay out the monies via cheque payable to the deceased’s estate which needs to be deposited to the estate account (as opposed to the administrators/executors’ personal bank account).
There are several banks in Singapore that allow you to open an estate account. Please contact your bank to see if they do provide estate accounts should you require one.