Start our guided inheritance process

Losing a loved one, you have a lot to deal with. We aim to help make things a little easier on you with our guided 3-step inheritance process. Start now and finish whenever it's best for you. We recommend taking the important first step immediately by notifying us of a death.


Step 1
Notify Fidelity of a death

Step 2
Select an option for receiving the inheritance

Step 3
Transfer your inheritance

Step 1

Here's an important starting point: Quickly notify us of the death—we'll immediately limit access to the deceased's accounts. With those initial safeguards in place, you'll have added peace of mind to go at your own pace to complete the rest of the inheritance process.


Here are a few key pieces of information we'll need about the deceased to complete Step 1:


  • Full name
  • Date of birth
  • Date of death
  • Social Security number

Quick tip


Submitting a death certificate online in this step will help speed up the inheritance. We'll need a copy before we can transfer any assets to you.

Step 2

During Step 2, if you’re the beneficiary, we'll help you understand the available options for your inheritance, based on the type of account you're inheriting. As a next step, we'll help you select an eligible account of your own where we'll ultimately transfer the inheritance.


Keep in mind: Not all account types are suited for receiving inherited assets, especially when inheriting retirement assets. For instance, receiving inherited retirement account assets in a non-retirement account could mean an immediate tax liability for you.

Quick tip


After we are notified of a death, Fidelity will review the deceased's accounts within 5 business days. If you're inheriting an IRA, you may want to use that time to review all the options you have for the IRA you're inheriting.

Step 3

Time to transfer the inheritance to your account. We make it easy: We'll call you to verify the transfer details, including the account you want the inheritance to go to. From there, we'll transfer the assets into your account. Simple.

Quick tip

From start to finish, a transfer can take up to 5–7 business days. Completion time may vary, but we'll keep you updated every step of the way.

Ready to begin?

More information

Following a loss, see our list of to-do's and commonly needed documents to help you through the inheritance process.

See our helpful guides to understanding the process and getting organized.