Death charges claimed by French banks to be restricted
New law passed by the Senate in early summer
La Banque Postale charged the parents of a nine-year-old girl €138 to close her Livret A regulated savings account after her death
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The amount that banks in France can charge to close accounts after someone dies is now restricted by law.
First proposed at the start of 2024, the law was passed by the Senate in early summer.
It was prompted by an outcry in 2021 when La Banque Postale charged the parents of a nine-year-old girl €138 to close her Livret A regulated savings account after her death.
Banks are no longer allowed to charge to close ‘simple’ accounts ie. when a notaire is not involved in tracing inheritors, there are no housing loans associated with it nor links to the account holder’s professional life, if the account has not been used as collateral for a loan, and if there are no interest-bearing accounts or outside interests associated with the account.
Nor can charges be levied if all accounts held by the deceased in that bank hold less than €5,000, or if the account holder was under 18 years of age.
In all other cases banks are now limited to charging only for the real costs they face closing the account, which they will have to supply when asked.
Charges must not exceed 1% of the balance in the accounts.
Previously, banks were allowed to charge what they liked to close accounts after clients died.
A study of 129 banks in France by online broker MoneyVox, published in October 2024, found the cost of closing an account holding €15,000 varied from zero to €450, with the average cost being €193.
