When the depositor dies, how do the heirs withdraw the bank deposits?
The State Financial Supervision and Administration Bureau and the People's Bank of China previously issued the "Notice on Optimizing the Requirements for Withdrawal of Small Deposits of Deceased Depositors" (hereinafter referred to as the New Regulations), which came into effect on June 1. The New Regulations provide more convenience for deposit inheritance by increasing the simplified withdrawal account limit and expanding the simplified withdrawal scope. In addition, what other changes are there?
How to check the bank card and balance of a deceased depositor?
"In real life, there are two main difficulties for heirs to withdraw bank deposits: difficulty in checking and difficulty in withdrawing money." Ying Yue, partner of Lianggao (Shanghai) Law Firm, said in an interview with China Business Network reporter.
Ying Yue pointed out that for the heirs, the first thing to do is to find out which bank cards the deceased depositors had, which is a relatively big difficulty.
What should I do if I don’t know which bank cards the deceased depositor has? China News Service checked the China UnionPay QuickPass App and found that the App provides a “deceased bank card account clue inquiry service”. Currently, the service is only piloted in Sichuan Province, Jiangsu Province, Fujian Province, Chongqing City, and Wuhan City. The heirs need to submit materials for review to the bank branches that support offline review. It is understood that the service coverage areas and banks will be gradually liberalized.
After finding the bank card, how to check the balance on the card? China News Service visited some banks and learned that if the heir has the bank card and transaction password, he can check it directly through the ATM. If you don't know the password, you need to provide some proof materials to check at the bank.
According to the "Notice on Simplifying the Inquiry of Deposits of Deceased Depositors" jointly issued by the General Office of the former China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the General Office of the Ministry of Justice, the spouse, parents, and children of the deceased depositor can submit a written application to the banking financial institution where the deposit is located to handle deposit inquiry services by presenting the deceased depositor's death certificate, documents that can prove the relationship between relatives (such as resident household register, marriage certificate, birth certificate, etc.) and their own valid identification documents; the heirs or legatees designated in the notarized will can submit the deceased depositor's death certificate, notarized will and their own valid identification documents, individually or jointly.
The above notice points out that the scope of inquiry includes deposit balances and the balances of non-deposit financial assets issued or managed by banking financial institutions themselves. After the bank has reviewed the formalities and found that they meet the requirements, it should inform the applicant in writing of the balance to be inquired. For third-party products that are sold on behalf of others and whose amounts cannot be determined, the bank should inform the applicant to inquire with the relevant institutions.
Can I check my account transaction details?
It is understood that in the past, banks could only provide account transaction records after the depositor's death, and did not support querying transaction records before death. In real life, there is indeed a need to query transaction details before death.
The People's Court of Xiangcheng District, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, once published a case. In June 2023, the legal heirs of the deceased Li, namely his parents, wife and daughter, sued a bank to the court as plaintiffs, requiring the bank to provide Li's bank statements from April 2021 to February 10, 2023.
A certain bank believes that according to the relevant regulations of the former China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, it can only provide account transaction records after the depositor's death. As for transaction records during life, since they involve personal privacy and information protection supervision, there is currently no clear guidance, so it will not inquire for the time being.
After review, the Xiangcheng District People's Court held that a debit card contractual relationship had been formed between Li and the defendant bank. Although the law stipulates the principle of confidentiality for depositors, whether the account transaction records of the deceased depositor can be provided should be analyzed in combination with the specific circumstances of the case. The four plaintiffs are the legal heirs of Li. They clearly stated the specific scope of the bank flow of the account involved in the case and explained that the deceased had a lot of external debts and their inquiry was for the purpose of understanding the repayment of the deceased's debts during his lifetime. They also submitted relevant evidence, so their lawsuit request was supported.
The new regulations make it clear that banks can provide account transaction details of the deceased depositor after his death and within 6 months before his death upon request of the first-order heirs, unless the deceased depositor had made other arrangements during his lifetime.
The head of the relevant department of the Financial Supervision Administration said in response to reporters' questions on April 26 that the bank account transaction details of the deceased depositor record some of the deceased depositor's personal information during his lifetime and may involve personal privacy, so they should be treated with caution. However, in reality, there are also reasonable needs for heirs to inquire about the transaction details of the deceased depositor during his lifetime under certain circumstances. The legitimate and legitimate inquiry needs of heirs should be met.
The above-mentioned person in charge said that in order to balance the protection of personal information and the inquiry needs of heirs, the new regulations clarify the requirements for inquiring account transaction details in accordance with relevant legal provisions to meet the inquiry needs in specific circumstances. In order to avoid unnecessary and unlimited inquiries and protect the personal information and privacy rights of deceased depositors, the new regulations stipulate the inquiry applicants and inquiry time limits.
In Ying Yue's opinion, six months satisfies the right to know of most relatives. The ability to check account transaction details is mainly to check whether the deposits of the deceased depositor were misappropriated before his death. If the depositor is older, their bank cards may not be in their hands, and checking the six-month flow of funds can also allow other heirs to see the account details of the deceased depositor and avoid disputes over misappropriation of funds. Generally speaking, except for sudden death, the deposits of the deceased depositor within six months before his death can basically be arranged clearly.
However, Ying Yue believes that if there is a real dispute, from the perspective of a litigation lawyer, only checking six months of financial statements may not be enough, and generally a query of at least one year of financial statements will be required.
The heads of relevant departments of the Financial Regulatory Administration said that banks are encouraged to make advance agreements with depositors through contractual agreements and other means regarding matters such as inheritance of deposits and inquiry of transaction details after their death.
How to withdraw small deposits not exceeding 50,000 yuan?
If the depositor dies, can the heirs directly go to the bank to withdraw the money with the bank card and password? Yang Baoquan, senior partner of Beijing Zhongyin Law Firm, pointed out in an interview with China News Service that according to the new regulations, the procedures for withdrawing small deposits of deceased relatives have been simplified, regardless of whether the heirs have a password or not. It is no longer required that all heirs take relevant certification materials to the notary office for inheritance notarization as previously required.
Yang Baoquan introduced that if the deposit does not exceed 50,000 yuan, the heirs can apply for the withdrawal of small deposits of the deceased depositor. The supporting documents they need to bring include: the depositor's death certificate, the heir's valid identification document, a letter of commitment signed by the heir, and proof of the kinship relationship between the heir and the depositor.
It should be noted that the range of 50,000 yuan refers to the account balance of the deceased depositor in the same corporate banking financial institution (excluding outstanding interest). In other words, each bank has a simplified withdrawal limit of 50,000 yuan for small deposits.
China News Service also noted that the new regulations also include banking financial institutions' gold accumulation products, as well as government bonds and wealth management products sold by agents, in the scope of simplified withdrawals, with their principal and actual income included in the 50,000 yuan account limit. In addition, the new regulations clearly state that funeral expenses and pensions are not included in the 50,000 yuan account limit and can be simplified and withdrawn in full.
Yang Baoquan also mentioned that in real life, the heirs can also withdraw small amounts of money from ATMs with their bank cards and passwords. In addition, if the heirs have uncancelled IDs, the heirs can bring the IDs of the heirs and their own IDs and use their bank cards and passwords to make withdrawals on their behalf. Generally, if the amount is less than 50,000 yuan, the bank does not need to review other relevant certification materials.
How to withdraw deposits exceeding 50,000 yuan?
In real life, if the deposit in the bank exceeds 50,000 yuan, how can the heir withdraw it?
Yang Baoquan introduced that there are two ways to choose: First, all heirs with inheritance rights bring their identity documents and household registration certificates, the death certificate of the deceased, the certificate of inheritance ownership, and the certificate of kinship with the deceased to the notary office to apply for an inheritance notarization. Then take the inheritance notarization and identity certificate to the bank to withdraw money. Second, if the heirs cannot reach a consensus or there are other reasons that make it impossible to go through the inheritance notarization procedures, one or more of the heirs can file a lawsuit with the People's Court. After the People's Court makes an effective judgment, ruling or mediation, the heirs can withdraw the bank deposits of the deceased from the bank based on the effective legal document.
"Legally speaking, bank deposits have the dual nature of property rights and debt rights. But no matter whether it is property rights or debt rights, ownership will be transferred after the inheritance begins, that is, the ownership of the deposits has been transferred to the heirs. According to the inheritance chapter of the Civil Code, inheritance begins at the time of the death of the deceased. That is to say, the inheritance has begun when the depositor dies, and the ownership of the deposits is transferred to the heirs. But in reality, to actually withdraw the deposits from the bank and actually get them into the hands of the heirs, one still has to go through a series of procedures and formalities of the bank." Yang Baoquan said.
How to prove “my mother is my mother”?
"In the lawsuits we handle daily, there are indeed cases where heirs have difficulty withdrawing cash after their relatives pass away. My colleagues have also encountered such situations," said Yang Baoquan.
Yang Baoquan said that this situation occurred because banks had to maintain the bottom line of security that financial institutions must abide by. For security reasons, banks not only need to verify that the person withdrawing the money is the legal heir of the deposit, but also need the consent of other heirs. The reason for this is that banks want to prevent one of the heirs from privately taking away the deposit without the knowledge of other heirs, which would cause disputes. Therefore, banks will inevitably be more strict when handling procedures and reviewing materials.
Yang Baoquan mentioned that on the other hand, it is sometimes difficult to prove that "my mother is my mother". To prove that the person withdrawing the money is the heir of the depositor, or even the only heir or all the heirs are present, there is a lack of direct and clear single evidence. Legally, at least the following proofs are required: 1. The death certificate of the deceased; 2. Proof of the relationship between the deceased and the heir; 3. Proof of the marital status of the deceased; 4. Description of the other relatives of the deceased; 5. Statements and notarizations of other heirs who were not present. Just to prove their relationship, at least a household registration certificate, a birth certificate, or a certificate of kinship issued by the public security agency, etc., are required. However, behind each certificate, another certificate may be needed to prove it. However, due to the time span and the failure to fully preserve relevant information, it has become difficult to prove that "my mother is my mother" and "I withdraw my mother's deposits."
"With the implementation of the new regulations, these problems will be greatly improved."
