After the death of a person, his relatives are forced to carry out a whole set of various procedures. The future of his or her bank account(s) arises in particular. Indeed, as soon as it is informed of the disappearance of one of its customers, the bank freezes his personal accounts. What happens to these accounts afterwards? What are the actions to be taken by the relatives of the deceased? What happens to the joint account he shared with the surviving spouse? How to unblock and close these accounts? Our answers in this file.
Following a death, the bank automatically freezes the bank accounts of the deceased and prepares a tax return. This act allows the establishment of an accounting statement, that is to say that it lists the state of the assets of the disappeared on the day of his death. The individual accounts of the deceased are then inaccessible, including for his relatives with powers of attorney. However, joint accounts are not frozen and remain accessible to the surviving spouse. Nevertheless, the available assets are divided in two and half of these are included in the inheritance.
The relatives of the deceased must carry out a whole range of various procedures following the death. The purpose of these administrative procedures is to record the death of a loved one and to inform all the organizations that must be notified in order to interrupt and close the files in progress, or even to collect the compensation due. Once these steps have been completed, the relatives can then look into the bank accounts of the deceased and take stock of the situation with the bank. You should know that the banking procedures are different depending on the nature of the bank accounts.
When the relatives are not aware of all the bank accounts in the possession of the deceased, they can contact the notary in charge of the estate. This professional will be able to consult the FICOBA file which lists all the bank accounts opened in the name of a person and indicates the balances.
When the bank is informed of the death of one of its customers by his relatives or the notary in charge of the succession, it freezes his individual bank accounts, i.e. his current account, his savings accounts, his savings accounts, etc. As a result, it is no longer possible to operate any withdrawal or deposit transaction, with the exception of costs related to the payment of funerals (up to a limit of 5,000 euros).
From the moment the individual account is blocked, no power of attorney can be effective. The balance of the account is frozen and it will be taken into account within the framework of the succession. This freeze will be effective until the day the heirs have received their share of the inheritance.
When the deceased shared a joint bank account with their spouse, the future of the account after death differs depending on the financial agreement signed when the account was opened. In most cases, two situations are possible:
On the other hand, even if the surviving spouse remains a user of the joint account, he cannot use the capital as he wishes. Indeed, the positive balance is divided in two, because a share enters the estate of the deceased to preserve the interests of the heirs. If these sums are fully or partially used by the surviving spouse, he will have to repay them since they no longer belong to him. Note that the balance of the account is recognized on the day of death as part of the estate.
In the event of a negative balance on the joint account, the surviving spouse remains – unfortunately – solely responsible for the debt.
Whatever the situation of the joint account after death, the surviving spouse can only use their bank card. That of the disappeared is deactivated. In addition, any transaction on the account deemed abnormal by the heirs after the death may lead them to demand compensation from the surviving spouse.
The bank account in joint ownership is collective and does not allow any operation without obtaining the prior agreement of each co-holder. Consequently, on the death of a co-holder, the bank freezes the account without the possibility of exception and integrates its positive or negative balance into the estate.
If the deceased owned securities, these can be sold on his death on the condition that all of his heirs agree and sign the sale order. Note that the death also puts an end to the operations of any representative or agent appointed by the deceased during his lifetime for the management of his accounts and securities.
If the deceased had a safe, it is automatically blocked upon his death, like his personal accounts. The safe can only be made accessible to an heir in the presence of all the other heirs or their representative and only after having provided proof of his status as heir. On the other hand, the contents of the chest cannot be taken by the heir and it joins the estate.
The relatives of the deceased can completely recover the sums available on the bank accounts of the latter. On the other hand, to unblock them, they will have to provide proof of their status as heirs. To do this, they can present a certificate of inheritance or a certificate of inheritance from all the heirs in the case of simple succession and for sums of less than 5,000 euros or a notarial deed drawn up by a notary if the amount is greater than 5,000 euros.
On the death of the holder, his account is blocked pending the succession, but it is not closed. When the succession is realized, it is up to the heirs or the surviving spouse to request the closure of the accounts by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt addressed to the director of the bank branch. If no deadline is imposed for this operation, it is recommended to take care of this closure as soon as possible after the death to avoid the costs associated with maintaining the bank account(s).
