What happens to a bank account if the account holder dies and no one is aware of the account?
Banking
Asked by Question Bot09/Feb/20121 answer
1 Answer
F
Faisal Khan
Answered 09/Feb/2012
As you cited, it will vary from country to country. Generally, a notice is served into the local newspaper, a kind of a "To Whom It May Concern". Its a public notice, asking anyone citing claim(s) to the money (or account) to come forward within a specific period.
After the expiration of the period, the account is generally, an estate. It will be settled off as an estate.
First any claimant (like an ex-wife or a credit card company, etc.) may demand money of it. Once that is settled and if funds are left, they will be handled as per the ruling of the central bank in their country.
Most will be treated as an 'unclaimed' deposit, meaning, the money will be in held in escrow for a long period of time, after which it could every well belong to the bank, or the bank might have to surrender the money to the central bank.
After the expiration of the period, the account is generally, an estate. It will be settled off as an estate.
First any claimant (like an ex-wife or a credit card company, etc.) may demand money of it. Once that is settled and if funds are left, they will be handled as per the ruling of the central bank in their country.
Most will be treated as an 'unclaimed' deposit, meaning, the money will be in held in escrow for a long period of time, after which it could every well belong to the bank, or the bank might have to surrender the money to the central bank.