Bank fees in succession: rules change

Following the death of one of their clients, and therefore at the opening of his estate, banks must carry out various procedures: among others, an inventory of funds, the establishment of exchanges with the notary and the transfer of money to the heirs.

These transactions are generally invoiced by banks under the name “bank inheritance fees”. Currently, these are set freely by each bank, so the amount varies greatly from one bank to another.

Effective November 13, 2025, these fees will be capped at 1% of the total account balances and valuation of the deceased's savings products; and may not exceed, in any case, 850 €. This amount will be revalued to 1^er January of each year, based on the change in the annual average of consumer prices (excluding tobacco), calculated by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE).

What are the free cases?

As of November 13, 2025, the bank inheritance fees will be completely eliminated in the following 3 situations :

• where the accounts and savings products in question were held by a minor;
• when the total balance of the deceased's accounts and savings products is less than €5,910 (this amount will be revised every year, depending on the evolution of the annual average of consumer prices excluding tobacco);
• when the heirs present to the bank an act of notoriety or a certificate signed by all of them, and that the operations relating to the succession do not show any obvious complexity.

On the latter point, the decree published in Official Journal of 14 August 2025 specifies that a succession is clearly complex when:

• the deceased has no direct heirs (spouse, child, grandchild, father, mother, brother or sister or a descendant of the latter, etc.);
• a mortgage agreement subscribed by the deceased is in progress within the banking institution;
• one or more accounts to be closed held by the deceased within the banking institution are of a professional nature;
• one or more collateral is present in one or more of the accounts or savings products to be closed held by the deceased within the banking institution (for example, if the collateral arrangement has been set up in one of the accounts – in the case of a debt, this arrangement allows the debtor to continue to use his account and to make deposits and withdrawals, and the creditor to be paid directly into the collateralized account in the event of default of the debtor, without having to initiate legal proceedings);
• the operations linked to the succession include one or more foreign elements (for example, the tax domicile or habitual residence of the deceased or one of the heirs is located abroad, or the total or partial application of a foreign law is necessary for the purposes of the settlement of the succession).