Last March, Marie-Françoise lost a loved one. Her husband died. While this 74 -year -old woman must overcome sadness, she is also forced to manage a series of administrative formalities. Especially in terms of bank accounts. This resident of Luttre, near Charleroi, finds herself faced with a major problem. “Since the death of my husband, his account at Keytrade has been blocked,” deplores this former teacher.
This is a situation that is not surprising. When a bank is warned of a death, it immediately blocks all accounts on behalf of the deceased. The objective is to determine the heirs with certainty. “It is provided by law. This is a way of knowledge that are exactly all the heirs and prevents sums from being taken without the authorization of all the heirs, ”explains Jean Martroye, notary in Forest, in the Brussels Region.
When an account is blocked, know that it is still possible to withdraw money, respecting certain conditions. If you are the spouse or the surviving cohabitant, you can receive an advance on your share of succession. “The amount deducted cannot exceed 50 % of the account balance with a maximum of 5,000 euros. If there are for example 2,000 euros on the blocked account, you can take 1,000 euros. If there are 20,000 euros, it will be 5,000 euros maximum ”, details the Brussels notary.
And what steps should be taken to unlock an account? You must provide your bank with a very specific document. “The only way to unlock an account is to provide it with an act of inheritance. You can get it via online administration, or via a notary. Once this document is transmitted to your bank, it will be able to release banking assets, ”explains Jean Martroye.
The act of inheritance takes up the identity of the deceased and the heirs. It aims to inform the financial organizations on the detection devolution of the deceased.
Marie-Françoise has sent this document to her bank written by her notary to her bank. “Despite the sending of the act of inheritance, the email of the notary saying that the succession was made and gave orders to the bank, then the printed papers and copies of my identity card, nothing moves,” regrets the resident of Luttre.
The concern is that his pension allowances are paid to this bank account. “So it’s been five months that I still have no access to my pension. Fortunately, I have a little money aside, ”says the septuagenarian.
This procedure takes up two months maximum
This period actually seems very long for Jean Martroye. “When an act of inheritance is requested, the law also requires the notary to carry out tax research to ensure that the deceased or the heirs have no tax debts,” explains the notary. If this is the case, the taxman will first take the sums due on the bank account before the banking assets are released. “This procedure takes up a maximum of two months. It depends on the processing speed of the bank, ”says the notary.
The concern therefore lies in the processing of demand. “It’s an internet account, I can’t see anyone. We only communicate by email and I have to wait 3-4 days to have an answer. It is not easy. They tell me that they treat my request, but that they are late with emails management, ”regrets Marie-Françoise. “No longer being able to speak directly to his banker in an agency can be an obstacle and delay steps, especially for older people,” confirms the notary.
During our attempt to contact the Keytrade bank by phone to obtain an explanation for this particularly long period, we also had to show a lot of patience. After several calls, more than an hour of waiting and the assurance of having a return from a spokesman for the bank, we have not obtained any response. This demonstrates the difficulty for customers to obtain answers quickly and the engorgement of customer services.
Open a new account in your name
If you know that a situation may be complicated following a death, Jean Martroye advises to open a new bank account in your own name: “We then short-circuit the act of inheritance. This new account will not be blocked and you can request that your income will be paid there. »»
Since a transfer of his pension from the account blocked to his account in another bank is refused, this is exactly what Marie-Françoise decides to undertake. “I opened a new account at Keytrade to transfer the pension allowances paid for five months. And I asked the Pensions Office to now pay my pension on my other account, in another bank, ”she explains.
“I am hopeful that the problem is solved”
And the former teacher is now reassured. “I just received a card by the post for my new account. I am hopeful that the problem will be solved quickly. But still, waiting for five months to touch your pension is not normal. Already that you have to face sadness. Managing this kind of formalities is the pompom, ”says Marie-Françoise.
Finally, it is important to know that you should not empty the account of a loved one when approaching a death. You might then be suspected of having wanted to escape the payment of inheritance tax.
