Friday, April 7, 2023, 00:18
Ordering the last wills of a deceased person involves a lot of paperwork and paperwork. One of the issues to resolve is the closure of bank accounts that may be open. This management corresponds to their heirs, who must obtain information about them and make the award of their balance.
These are some of the most frequent doubts that arise throughout this process.
How to know if the deceased had bank accounts?
The Association of Financial Users (Asufin) advises going to the Tax Administration, to whom banks have to communicate the accounts of the deceased person. “There you will also be able to find out, once your status as heir has been demonstrated, if there are outstanding debts and what the account balance is,” they add from the association.
How is the status of heir established?
Once the bank has been notified of the death of the person holding the bank accounts, the next step is to present death certificates and the Last Will and Will Record, explains the Bank of Spain (BdE) on its Banking Customer Portal.
In addition, an authorized copy of the last testament or, in case there is none, of the declaration of heirs. For the disposition of funds, the documentation justifying the acceptance, partition and adjudication of the inheritance must be provided.
Can the balance be disposed of after the owner’s death?
Once the inheritance is accepted and distributed, the account passes to the ownership of the heirs. Depending on the type of account, it must be managed in one way or another:
-If the deceased was the sole owner, authorization from all his heirs is required.
-If the account is joint, from the death of a holder, the rest of the holders will not be able to dispose of the money in it, unless they have the express consent of all the heirs of the deceased.
-If the account is indistinct or joint and several, any of the co-owners can carry out any operation or management without the need for the authorization of the heirs, clarify the Asufin experts.
What to do to cancel the account?
If the only owner had been the deceased person, the account will pass to his heirs, who must sign the cancellation. In case there are several owners, to close the account all the heirs and also the other owners must give their consent.
After death, can receipts continue to be uploaded to the account?
“Yes, as long as there is no express order to the contrary given by all the heirs and in the case of operations ordered during the life of the owner that imply the maintenance of the inheritance,” clarifies the Bank of Spain. For example, receipts from energy supply, telephone, tax, insurance and burial companies, the return of which “could entail obviously unnecessary surcharges and inconveniences.”
What if no one claims the account?
In this case, it will go to State funds if 20 years elapse without any type of movement being carried out. And how does the State know that a bank account has been abandoned? “The most common thing is that there is someone who gives a notice to the Tax Agency, which has a specific channel to report these “abandoned” accounts and inheritances, in which the State becomes the heir,” they clarify in Asufin.