How do I withdraw the money from my bank card after the death of a loved one? The new regulations will be officially implemented on June 1

Sino-Singapore warp and weft

2024-06-01 16:44Posted on the official account of Beijing Zhongxin Jingwei

China-Singapore Jingwei, June 1 (Wei Wei) When a depositor dies, how should the heirs withdraw bank deposits?

The Notice on Optimizing the Requirements for Withdrawal of Small Deposits by Deceased Depositors (hereinafter referred to as the "New Regulations") previously issued by the State Administration of Financial Supervision and Administration and the People's Bank of China came into effect on June 1. The new regulations provide more convenience for the inheritance of deposits by increasing the limit of simplified withdrawal accounts and expanding the scope of simplified withdrawals. Also, what else has changed?

How can I check the card and balance of my deceased depositor?

"In real life, there are two main 'difficulties' for heirs to withdraw bank deposits: difficulty in inquiring and difficulty in withdrawing." Ying Yue, a partner of Lianggao (Shanghai) Law Firm, said in an interview with a reporter from Sino-Singapore Jingwei.

Ying Yue pointed out that for the heirs, it is necessary to find out what bank cards the deceased depositor has, which is a relatively big difficulty.

What should I do if I don't know what cards the deceased depositor had? Zhongxin Jingwei inquired about the China UnionPay QuickPass App and found that the App provides a "deceased person's bank card account clue query service", which is currently only being piloted in Sichuan Province, Jiangsu Province, Fujian Province, Chongqing Municipality and Wuhan City, and heirs and other heirs need to submit materials for their review to bank outlets that support offline review. It is understood that the service will be gradually opened up in the areas and banks covered.

How do I withdraw the money from my bank card after the death of a loved one? The new regulations will be officially implemented on June 1

Source: UnionPay App

How do I check the balance on my card after I find it? Sino-Singapore Jingwei visited some banks and learned that if they hold bank cards and transaction passwords, the heirs can directly inquire through ATMs. If you don't know the password, you need to provide some supporting materials to the bank for inquiry.

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 shall present the death certificate of the deceased depositor, documents that can show kinship (such as household registration booklet, marriage certificate, birth certificate, etc.) and their valid identity documents, and the heirs or legatees designated by the notarized will shall present the death certificate of the deceased depositor, the notarized will and their valid identity documents. Written applications may be submitted to the banking financial institutions where the deposits are located, either separately or jointly, to handle the deposit inquiry business.

The above-mentioned notice pointed out that the scope of inquiry includes the balance of deposits and the balance of non-deposit financial assets issued or managed by banking financial institutions themselves. After meeting the requirements through formal examination, the bank shall inform the applicant in writing of the balance to be inquired. For third-party products that are sold on behalf of the applicant and the amount cannot be determined, the bank should inform the applicant to inquire with the relevant authorities.

Can I check the transaction details of my account?

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 the details of transactions before death.

The Xiangcheng District People's Court of Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, once released 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 the bank statements from April 2021 to February 10, 2023 before Li's death.

A 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, and there is no clear guidance on the transaction records before the death of the depositor, because it involves personal privacy and information protection supervision, so it will not inquire for the time being.

After review, the Xiangcheng District People's Court found 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 deceased depositor's account transaction records can be provided during his lifetime should be analysed in light of the specific circumstances of the case. The four plaintiffs are the legal heirs of Li, and they clarified the specific scope of the request to inquire into the bank statements of the accounts involved in the case, and explained that because the deceased had a large number of external debts, the inquiry was for reasonable reasons such as understanding the repayment of the deceased's debts during his lifetime, and submitted corresponding evidence, so his claim was supported.

The new rules specify that banks may, upon request by first-order heirs, provide details of account transactions after the death of the deceased depositor and within 6 months before the death. Unless otherwise arranged before the deceased's death.

In response to a reporter's question on April 26, the person in charge of the relevant department of the State Administration of Financial Supervision said that the transaction details of the bank account of the deceased depositor recorded part of the personal information of the deceased depositor during his lifetime, and may involve personal privacy, so it should be treated with caution. However, in reality, there is also a reasonable need for the heirs to inquire about the transaction details of the deceased depositor under certain circumstances. The heirs' lawful and legitimate needs for inquiries shall be satisfied.

The above-mentioned person in charge said that in order to take into account the protection of personal information and the needs of heir inquiries, in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, the new regulations clarify the relevant requirements for querying account transaction details to meet the query needs under specific circumstances. In order to avoid unnecessary and unrestricted inquiries and protect the personal information and privacy of deceased depositors, the new regulations stipulate the applicant for inquiries and the time limit for inquiries.

In Ying Yue's view, 6 months satisfies the right to know of most relatives, and the main reason for being able to check the account transaction details is to check whether the deposit of the deceased depositor has been misappropriated before his death. If the depositor is older, their bank card may not be in their own hands, and checking the 6-month statement can also allow other heirs to see the account details of the deceased depositor clearly, avoiding some disputes over misappropriation of funds. Generally speaking, except in the case of sudden death, the deceased depositor's deposit can basically be arranged within the first 6 months of his death.

However, Ying Yue believes that if there is a real dispute, from the perspective of a litigator, it may not be enough to inquire only about 6 months' statements, and generally require at least 1 year's statements.

The person in charge of the relevant department of the State Administration of Financial Supervision said that banks are encouraged to agree in advance with depositors on matters such as deposit inheritance and transaction details inquiry after their death through contractual agreements and other means.

How to withdraw a small deposit of no more than 50,000 yuan?

If the depositor dies, can the heirs go directly to the bank with the bank card and password to withdraw money? Yang Baoquan, a senior partner of Beijing Zhongyin Law Firm, pointed out in an interview with Zhongxin Jingwei that according to the new regulations, the procedures for withdrawing small deposits of deceased relatives, regardless of whether the heirs have a password or not, have been relatively simplified, and all heirs are no longer required to bring relevant supporting materials to the notary office for inheritance notarization.

Yang Baoquan introduced that if the deposit does not exceed 50,000 yuan, the heir can handle the small deposit withdrawal business of the deceased depositor, and the supporting materials that need to be carried are: the death certificate of the depositor, the valid identity document of the heir, the letter of commitment signed by the heir, and the certificate of kinship between the heir and the depositor.

It should be noted that the range of 50,000 yuan is the account balance of the deceased depositor in the same legal person banking financial institution (excluding outstanding interest). In other words, each bank has a simplified withdrawal limit of 50,000 yuan for small deposits.

Sino-Singapore Jingwei also noted that the new regulations also include the gold accumulation products of banking financial institutions, as well as the treasury bonds and wealth management products sold by agents, into the scope of simplified withdrawal, and their principal and actual income are included in the account limit of 50,000 yuan. In addition, the new regulations make it clear that funeral expenses and pensions are not included in the account limit of 50,000 yuan, and can be withdrawn in full and simplified.

Yang Baoquan also mentioned that in real life, the heir has a bank card and password, and can also withdraw small amounts of money on his own at the ATM. In addition, if the decedent has an uncancelled identity document, the heir carries the identity document of the decedent and his own identity document, and uses the bank card and password to handle the withdrawal on behalf of the decedent, generally less than 50,000 yuan, and the bank does not need to review other relevant supporting materials.

How to withdraw deposits of more than 50,000 yuan?

In real life, if you have more than 50,000 yuan in the bank, how should the heirs withdraw it?

According to Yang Baoquan, there are two ways to choose: one is that all heirs with the right to inherit bring their identity documents and household registration certificates, the death certificate of the deceased, the certificate of ownership of the estate, and the certificate of kinship with the deceased to the notary public for the notarial certificate of inheritance. Then take the notarial certificate of inheritance and the proof of identity to the bank to withdraw the money. Second, if the heirs cannot reach an agreement or cannot go through the inheritance notarization formalities for other reasons, one or more of the heirs may file a lawsuit with the people's court, and after the people's court makes an effective judgment, ruling or mediation document, the heirs may withdraw the bank deposits of the decedent from the bank in accordance with the effective legal documents.

"Legally, bank deposits have the dual nature of property rights and claims. However, whether it is a property right or a creditor's right, after the inheritance begins, the ownership will be transferred, that is, the ownership of the deposit has been transferred to the heir. According to the inheritance section of the Civil Code, inheritance begins when the decedent dies. That is, when the depositor dies, the inheritance has already begun, and the ownership of the deposit is transferred to the heirs. However, in practice, it is still necessary to go through a series of procedures and procedures of the bank to truly realize that the deposit is withdrawn from the bank and actually in the hands of the heirs. Yang Baoquan said.

How to prove "my mom is my mom"?

"In the lawsuits handled on a daily basis, there are indeed cases where it is difficult for heirs to withdraw cash after the death of their relatives, including colleagues around me who have also encountered such situations." Yang Baoquan said.

Yang Baoquan said that on the one hand, this situation arises because banks must adhere to the bottom line of safety that financial institutions must abide by, and for security reasons, banks need to verify that the withdrawer is the legal heir of the deposit in accordance with relevant regulations, but also need the consent of other heirs. The reason for this is that the bank wants to prevent one of the heirs from taking the deposit without the knowledge of the other heirs, which can lead to disputes. Therefore, banks will inevitably be stricter when handling procedures and reviewing materials.

Yang Baoquan mentioned that on the other hand, it is because it is sometimes difficult to prove that "my mother is my mother". In order to prove that the withdrawer is the heir of the depositor, or even the sole heir or all the heirs have been present, there is a lack of direct and clear single evidence, and at least the following supporting materials are required in law: 1. The death certificate of the decedent; 2. Proof of kinship between the decedent and the heir; 3. Proof of marital status of the decedent; 4. Explanation of other relatives of the decedent; 5. Declaration and notarization of other heirs who did not show up. Just to prove their kinship, at least a household registration certificate, a birth certificate or a kinship certificate issued by the public security organ is required, but behind each certificate another certificate may be needed to prove it. However, due to the time span and the lack of perfect preservation of relevant information, it becomes difficult to prove that "my mother is my mother" and "I withdraw my mother's deposit".

"With the implementation of the new regulations, these problems will be greatly improved." Yang Baoquan said.

(The views in the article are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice, investment is risky, and you need to be cautious when entering the market.) )

Editor in charge: Luo Kun and Li Zhongyuan

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