administrator (probably your wife). Once someone is the administrator (or executor) they will need to go online with the IRS and get an Employer ID Number (EIN) number for the estate. You need the EIN because you won't be able to open a checking account (to pay the estate's bills) without one. Once the estate has its own checking account all of the MIL's CDs, checking accts, etc. get transferred into it. Depending on the size of the estate you may or may not have to follow up with additional filings with the clerk of courts. At least that's how it works in North Carolina.