Do you need to prove that you are one of the heirs of a deceased person in order to assert your rights, particularly with banks? The steps to take depend on the amount of the estate. The French administration provides an overview of the issue on its official website.
Estate of less than €5,000
If the total amount of the estate is less than €5,000, a certificate signed by all the heirs of the deceased person is sufficient. This document must contain the following information:
– There is no will or other heirs
– There is no marriage contract
– The person presenting the document is authorized to collect, on behalf of the heirs, the sums appearing in the accounts of the deceased or to close them.
– There is no ongoing trial or dispute regarding the identification of an heir or the composition of the estate
– The estate does not include any real estate
This document will then allow you to withdraw “the sums appearing in the deceased’s bank accounts, up to a limit of €5,000, to settle the conservatory acts”, indicates the site service-public.fr. Please note, you will need to present supporting documents to the financial institution: invoices, funeral order forms, etc. You will also be able to obtain the closure of the accounts.
To assert your rights, you must present this certificate signed by the heirs but also an extract of your birth certificate, an extract of the birth certificate of the deceased and the full copy of his death certificate, an extract of the act of marriage of the deceased (if he was married at the time of death), extracts of birth certificates of each beneficiary designated in the certificate, and a certificate of absence of registration of dispositions of last wishes.
You can retrieve this last document online from the central file of last wills and testaments (FCDDV) or from the association for the development of notarial services (ADSN). This process costs €18 in metropolitan France, €16.28 from an overseas department and €15 from abroad.
Estate of less than €5,000
If the estate is greater than €5,000, you and the other heirs must go to a notary to draw up a deed of notoriety. This document must contain the following information:
– Identity of the deceased
– Existence or absence of special provisions concerning inheritance (for example, a will or a donation between spouses)
– Full identity of each heir
– Parentage and degree of relationship of each heir to the deceased
– Share due to each heir
This act costs €69.23 including tax. Other costs may be added, so it is advisable to ask the notary for a quote.
This document will allow you to prove that you are indeed an heir for certain procedures, for example to change the holder of the registration document for a vehicle. You will also be able to release the sums appearing in the bank accounts of the deceased, the amount of which is greater than €5,000.
