Bank Account – What happens if Account holder dies?(Telugu)

What happens to the orphan bank account and who will get the amount in that account once the account holder dies?

We all have Bank Accounts with Banks.  We do financial Transactions in that account. But what happens to out money after our death? Any idea for you? I will give some inputs in this matter.

Whenever there is a sudden demise in someone’s family, there is a panic attack. There is a  mourning of losing loved ones and chaos in the family for a few days to weeks, but finally, life comes back to normal later.

A few months later, family member starts collecting all the financial data like Life Insurance Plans, locker keys, investment details(Documents), loans etc.  But the most important thing is the bank account. The Bank account is the key to someone’s financial life and getting access to it is Important.

Here are the few steps to claim the money in bank account.

Withdrawal from ATM Card at ATM 

Before one move to the actual process, you should first look at the obvious thing. Find out if you have the access to the ATM or Debit Card and if you know the PIN Number. Just go to ATM center and withdraw the money from the ATM as early as possible.

For any reason, if you are unable to transact with ATM CARD, then follow another process…

Step#1 – You have to Approach the bank & Meet the bank officials for the process..

You should approach the bank and meet the bank manager and share about the account holder death. Request him/her the procedure to claim all the asset from the bank. If possible, show them the proofs that the account holder has passed away ( death certificate) etc.

Then the bank with immediately will make the account in a dormant state (a state in which the there is no withdrawal possible). However, the deposits are still possible in the account, because it may happen that few payments /dividends(shares or mutual funds) are going to be credited in coming days

Step 2 – Submit the documents

Case 1 – Single account holder

If the bank account had a single holder, then-nominee will approach the bank with the death certificate of the account holder including his own authenticity proofs. Then the procedure of transferring money to nominee starts and the account remains in the dormant state for 6 months to 12 months and sometimes more.(it differs from bank to bank).

The Required Documents :

• Application, stating that the account holder has passed away,
• Notarized death certificate
• FIR copy (if the deceased has passed in the accident and body is missing )
• Authentic photo id proofs (such as aadhaar card, Pan, driving license, voter id etc…)
• Relationship with the deceased account holder with proof,
• Nominee KYC documents (photo, pan, and adhaar)

Some more additional documents if there is no nominee in the bank account

In case nominee is not mentioned in the deceased bank account, then bank needs clarity on who will be the rightful owner of the money. For that, they might need a written(deceased) WILL, which will mention clearly about the owner of the bank account money.

If WILL is not available, in that case, the bank may ask you to bring succession certificate from the court, which will be the legal document certifying who is the actual owner of the money available in a bank account.

Case 2 – Joint account holder – If the First account holder has passed away then the Second account holder can inform the bank with the application stating the First account holder has passed away and also to make the 2nd holder the 1st holder so that he/she can have access to the money in the bank account.

Required documents to submit –

• Application stating the death of the First Holder holder
• Notarized death certificate of the First holder
• FIR copy (if the First holder has passed in the accident and body is missing )
• Authentic photo id proofs of the Second Holder(such as Adhaar , Pan , driving license, etc…)

What to do if there is a dispute among family members?

Sometimes, It may happen that there are many people in the family, who claim to be the legal heir of the deceased account holder. Even if the nominee is mentioned in the account, still legal heirs may be different from the nominee.

In this case, one has to move to court and apply for succession. It’s a document which will certify the legal heirs.

Make sure your family does not face any issues

How to make sure that your family members do not have to go through the problems while claiming back the deceased bank account? Here are few things you can follow

• Make sure your family knows the ATM CARD PIN and internet banking details
• Convert the bank account in joint name, so that anyone( 1st holder or 2nd holder can access the account
• Make sure that you have mentioned a nominee among one of the legal heirs
• Write a Registered WILL and mention about all the beneficiaries very clearly

Let us know if you like this article? Leave your questions if any, in the comment section and I  reply to all comments and doubts.