If you want a bank to serve as executor of your estate, you have real choices. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, U.S. Bank, PNC, and Truist all offer executor services through their trust or private bank divisions, and private institutions like Northern Trust and Bessemer Trust do the same for larger estates. These are the banks that offer executor services most commonly used by individual testators, and each has its own minimum estate size, fee schedule, and appetite for complicated assets.
National Banks That Will Serve as Executor
Bank of America offers executor services through its Private Bank, which ranks as one of the largest providers of managed personal trust services in the country.1Bank of America Private Bank. Trust and Estate Services and Solutions Its team files estate tax returns and manages and distributes assets under the terms of a will, with a nationwide practice that handles estates with property in more than one state.
Wells Fargo acts as executor, trustee, or agent for an appointed fiduciary through its Private Wealth group at Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. The estate services team handles asset valuations and appraisals (including family businesses, real estate, and personal property) and prepares estate, inheritance, and fiduciary income tax returns. It also offers post-mortem planning and impartial dispute resolution among beneficiaries.2Wells Fargo. Estate Services – Private Wealth
JPMorgan Chase handles estate services through J.P. Morgan Wealth Management, working with executors and administrators to settle accounts and transfer assets.3Chase. J.P. Morgan Estate Services U.S. Bank maintains a trusts and estates practice within its Wealth Management group.4U.S. Bank. Wealth Management
Regional and Private Banks
PNC Private Bank offers estate settlement through its trust department, administering complex estates and multi-generational trusts. As a national bank it can act in all jurisdictions, and it offers specialized trust structures through its Delaware and Ohio trust companies.5PNC Bank. Estate Services, Trust Management and Wealth Transfer Truist provides estate settlement services and will serve as sole corporate executor or as co-executor alongside a family member for additional oversight.6Truist. Estate Settlement
Northern Trust is a private institution focused on fiduciary and wealth management. It serves as executor for estates holding private business interests, residential and commercial real estate, and agricultural holdings, and generally works with ultra-high-net-worth families.7Northern Trust. Trust and Estate Services Bessemer Trust offers estate administration and has served as executor or co-executor for generations of client families.8Bessemer Trust. Estate Administration Services
Minimum Estate Size and Asset Types
Most banks will not accept the role unless the estate meets a financial threshold. Minimums commonly start around $1 million in investable assets, and many national banks require $3 million to $5 million. The bank looks at the total market value of cash, brokerage accounts, real estate, and other property to confirm its fee will justify the work. Smaller estates are frequently declined because professional administration would eat into what beneficiaries receive.
Asset mix matters as much as size. Liquid securities and ordinary residential real estate are straightforward. Banks are more likely to decline estates that include:
- Operating businesses the bank would have to run, with employees and daily decisions attached.
- Real estate with environmental hazards such as contaminated soil or underground storage tanks.
- Illiquid or hard-to-value assets like collections, intellectual property, or unconventional investments with no ready market.
What Banks Charge to Serve as Executor
Corporate executor fees are typically a percentage of the estate’s total value, on a tiered schedule where the rate drops as the estate gets larger. A common pattern is a higher percentage on the first few hundred thousand dollars and a lower rate on amounts above $1 million. The total effective fee on most estates lands between 1% and 5%, depending on size, complexity, and the bank’s own schedule.
Expect additional charges for anything beyond routine administration. Selling real estate, managing litigation on behalf of the estate, defending a contested will, and handling tax audits are usually billed as extraordinary services. Ask for the current fee schedule in writing before naming any bank, and check it against your state’s probate code, which may cap executor compensation.
What the Bank Actually Does
A corporate executor collects assets, pays creditors, files tax returns, and distributes what remains to the beneficiaries named in the will. The tax work is where the trust department’s professionals earn much of their fee.
For federal estate tax, the executor files IRS Form 706. For decedents dying in 2026, Form 706 is required when the gross estate plus adjusted taxable gifts exceeds $15,000,000.9Internal Revenue Service. Whats New Estate and Gift Tax Form 706 is also required, regardless of estate size, if the executor is electing to transfer the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount to a surviving spouse.10Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 706
Separately, any estate that earns $600 or more in gross income during the tax year (interest, dividends, rental income, asset sales) must file IRS Form 1041, the income tax return for estates and trusts.11Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1041 and Schedules A, B, G, J, and K-1 Calendar-year estates file Form 1041 by April 15 of the following year. The bank also prepares any required state estate or inheritance tax returns.
Bank vs. Family Member
The main reason to pick a bank is objectivity. A bank decides based on the terms of the will, not family history, which matters most when beneficiaries disagree or when the estate holds assets that need professional management. As a fiduciary, the bank is legally obligated to put the beneficiaries’ interests first.
Corporate executors also tend to settle estates faster than inexperienced family members because they do this work routinely and have tax professionals, attorneys, and trust officers in-house. And a bank will not get sick, move away, or die before you do, which matters for younger testators whose chosen individual executor may not be available decades from now.
The drawbacks are cost and personal connection. A family member serves for free, or for a modest statutory fee, and may understand your intentions better when the will is ambiguous. On the other hand, naming one relative over others can cause friction and sometimes litigation. The right answer depends on your family and the complexity of your estate.
Naming the Bank as Co-Executor
You can name both. In a co-executor arrangement the bank handles tax filings, asset valuations, and creditor payments, while a family member brings personal knowledge of your wishes and oversight.6Truist. Estate Settlement Co-executors share legal responsibility, which usually means both must agree on major decisions unless the will says otherwise. If you go this route, have your attorney draft the will to spell out each co-executor’s authority (for example, bank over investments and tax filings, family member over distribution of personal property) so you do not create deadlocks.
How to Name a Bank in Your Will
Appointing a bank as executor takes some setup well before your will is signed:
- Meet with the bank’s trust department. Walk through your estate’s size, asset types, and family situation. The bank will decide whether it will accept the role. Bring a list of assets, liabilities, and creditors, with account balances, mortgage statements, and insurance policy details.
- Get the current fee schedule in writing, with tiered percentage rates and any flat or hourly fees for specific tasks or extraordinary services.
- Confirm the exact corporate name of the trust department. Your will must use that precise name and address.
- Work with an attorney to draft a will, or a codicil, that names the bank as executor or co-executor, signed and witnessed under your state’s rules.
- Deliver a copy of the executed will to the trust department. The bank will typically review it and acknowledge in writing that it is willing to serve.
Tell the bank about major life changes afterward: marriages, divorces, births, big asset purchases or sales. Many trust departments assign a relationship manager who reviews your file periodically.
Changing or Removing a Bank Executor
While you are alive and competent, you can replace the bank at any time by executing a new will or a codicil that revokes the appointment and names a different executor. Follow your state’s signing and witnessing formalities, and tell the trust department in writing so it can close your file.
After death, removal requires a court order. Beneficiaries or other interested parties must petition the probate court and show that the bank has failed in its fiduciary duties. Courts generally want clear evidence of a serious problem (conflicts of interest, mismanagement, failure to communicate with beneficiaries, excessive delays) rather than disagreements about timing or investment choices.
If the Bank Declines or Resigns
A bank named in your will is not required to accept the role when you die. If it declines, because the estate has shrunk below its minimums or the assets have become complicated, the probate court turns to any successor executor you named. If none is available, the court appoints an administrator, who may not be someone you would have chosen.
A bank that has started serving can also resign, but not casually. Resignation during administration typically requires court approval, a detailed accounting of every transaction handled so far, identification of a successor, and notice to all beneficiaries. Name at least one backup executor in your will, whether another institution, a trusted individual, or both, so the estate has somewhere to go if the bank steps aside.