Moving Money from an Estate Into a Private Account to Earn More Interest

My question involves estate proceedings in the state of: New York

I am the administrator of my father's estate. I had an estate savings account created and my father's money has been moved into it.
The interest being earned is much lower than I get in my online personal bank account.
I can create another personal account with my online personal bank (they allow any number to be created) and move money out of the estate savings and into it.
I cannot create an estate account with this online bank.
While the estate is being settled I'll earn several hundred dollars more in interest in this account.

Is this ok to do? I assume I will have to personally pay taxes on that interest. If it were in the estate, I assume the estate would have to pay taxes on the interest.
As long as taxes are paid, is there any concern with doing this?

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Quoting ionymous

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Is this ok to do?

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It is absolutely NOT OK to do this. Moving the funds into an account not owned by the trust would be malfeasance on your part.

OP did not say there was a trust involved.

It is perhaps wrong for executor to move funds into his personal name .

But one expects an executor to be a prudent steward of funds in his care ...and if an online estate account pays 0.03% interest and OP can get a rather safe 3.5% with a mix at say Vanguard that is carefully segregated....I for one am not going to blow a whistle if I were an heir who stands to benefit?. And I suspect one could properly register any such account under the estates TIN?

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Quoting HRinDEVON

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OP did not say there was a trust involved.

It is perhaps wrong for executor to move funds into his personal name .

But one expects an executor to be a prudent steward of funds in his care ...and if an online estate account pays 0.03% interest and OP can get a rather safe 3.5% with a mix at say Vanguard that is carefully segregated....I for one am not going to blow a whistle if I were an heir who stands to benefit?. And I suspect one could properly register any such account under the estates TIN?

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THIS IS VERY BAD ADVICE.

An executor of an estate OR trustee of a trust who moves money into his personal name when it needs to remain in the name of the estate or trust is violating their fiduciary responsibility to the estate OR trust. Even if the OP is the only heir to the estate or trust its a HUGE no-no. He can do it when the estate is totally settled and the money ready to distribute only, and then only his share.

Sorry, I misspoke regarding a trust, but the advice is the same if you substitute ESTATE for TRUST. You can't just move funds from an estate into a personal account.

If an institution won't extend higher interest rates to an estate account, then your "stewardship" is doing the best it can.

So is it a against the law, or is it just a bad idea because if the money is lost I'll be liable to any debtors or other heirs?
The account I was considering transferring to is another savings account. Instead of 0.25% it earns 0.99%. It's not a big deal but I'll earn a few extra hundred. The money won't be any more likely to be lost in either account, as far as I see.

I suspect there's no "law" against it. But putting money that belongs in an estate account into one that is owned by you, even if your goals are to use it as a custodian of the estate, risks a lot of tax and other issues if other people who are either heirs or have a claim to the estate (debtors) want to push the issue.

The small amount of extra interest you are getting is not worth the problems.

If the court finds out that you have moved money out of the estate and put it into your own name, the court may remove you as administrator sua sponte (on its own motion) -- and further, the court may refer the matter to a prosecutor for review. Even with your protestation that you intended to later return the money, it is a gross violation of your fiduciary duties, and if a prosecutor doesn't believe that you intended to return the money you could end up facing criminal charges. It's also pretty much a "gimme" for any other heir who wants to remove you as administrator.

You can explore with your bank whether you can get a similar interest rate on an account you open as administrator for the estate.

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Quoting ionymous

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So is it a against the law, or is it just a bad idea because if the money is lost I'll be liable to any debtors or other heirs?

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It is not your money. It is the estate’s money. Moving it to an account your your own name risks (1) that it will appear as though you have taken the money for your own, which could prompt a disgruntled heir or creditor to allege you embezzled the money and lead to criminal charges; (2) you could be accused of violating your fiduciary duty to the estate and be removed as executor; (3) you might end up making yourself personally liable for the estate debts, which might cost you significantly; and (4) you considerably weaken your position in any dispute with other beneficiaries or creditors of the estate because your act of violating your fiduciary duty and (possibly viewed as an act of dishonesty) might well help to discredit any testimony you provide in that dispute. For all these reasons, what you propose to do is a very bad idea. I understand the desire to get a better return on the funds. If you really look around you can probably find a place that will give the estate that better return. But if you can’t then you’ve met your responsibility to prudently invest the funds by putting it where the best rate can be obtained for the estate without assuming unreasonable risk. Unless the estate takes a considerable amount of time to probate, the amount of interest lost here during the months of probate by being in the account with a lower interest rate isn't going to be enough to make much difference anyway, and certainly not worth running the risks I mentioned.

It sounds like it's not worth the risk, so I won't bother moving the money to gain more interest.