If a French bank has frozen an account after the death of a relative and the heir lives in the United Kingdom, the immediate problem is rarely the money alone. The bank must identify the person entitled to receive it, establish whether a French notarial document is required, and decide whether French inheritance tax formalities have been completed. A UK grant of probate may be essential evidence, but it does not automatically replace proof of heirship under French law or a French tax clearance document. This is why a file can remain blocked even when the family has a valid will and a sealed English grant.

Brexit adds a second layer. A UK executor, a French notary, the bank and the French tax authority may each ask for a different document, using different words for similar concepts. The practical objective is to match each request to the correct legal function: proving who inherits, proving what must be declared in France, and proving that the bank may release the funds. The guide below deals with a French bank account in a Franco-British succession. It does not cover the purchase of French property or the creation of a company.

I. Why a French bank blocks the account and what a UK heir must prove

A. Is a UK grant of probate enough to unlock a French bank account?

When a bank learns of the death of the account holder, it normally places an individual account on hold. In French banking language, a compte individuel is an account held in one person’s name. The bank’s first duty is preservation: it must not allow an heir, an executor or a person holding a power of attorney to remove assets merely because that person has access to the online account or knows the PIN. Ordinary payments stop, although limited operations such as funeral expenses may be handled under the applicable rules.

The situation is different for a compte joint, meaning a joint account that can ordinarily be operated by either holder, and for a compte indivis, meaning an account that normally requires the consent of all holders. A surviving joint holder may often continue to use the account as against the bank, but that does not decide how much of the balance belongs to the estate. A joint account is not a shortcut for transferring the deceased’s share to the survivor.

The starting point for a direct-line heir is Article L. 312-1-4 of the French Monetary and Financial Code. It begins with the words Sous réserve de justifier de sa qualité d’héritier, tout successible en ligne directe peut :—in English, a direct-line prospective heir may act only after proving heirship. The provision allows certain acts of preservation and, subject to conditions, the closure of the deceased’s accounts and payment of the sums to the entitled person.

For a simplified file, the relevant conditions generally include all of the following:

• the person asking the bank is a direct-line heir, such as a child or parent;
• the succession does not include French real property;
• the amount concerned is below the statutory simplified-procedure threshold, currently €5,965 in the public guidance applicable in 2026;
• the other heirs do not object; and
• the applicant provides the death certificate, civil-status evidence, the required family information and the certificate showing that no will was registered in the relevant French register, where applicable.

The bank may ask for a signed heir’s declaration, sometimes called an attestation des héritiers (a signed statement by the heirs identifying the succession). This is not the same as a UK grant. It is a French evidence package, and the bank may reject it if the family tree is incomplete, if a spouse or child has not been accounted for, or if the account is linked to another asset or a dispute.

Where the simplified route does not apply, the usual document is an acte de notoriété, which means a notarial deed identifying the heirs and the basis of their entitlement. Article 730-1 of the French Civil Code states: La preuve de la qualité d’héritier peut résulter d’un acte de notoriété dressé par un notaire. The deed is not merely a translation of the will. The notary checks the death, family relationships, testamentary position and, where necessary, the applicable law.

That distinction matters to a British family. A Grant of Probate is the UK court document confirming an executor’s authority to administer an estate under the relevant UK probate system. Letters of Administration perform a different function where there is no effective executor or will. Neither document should be presented to a French bank as if it were automatically an acte de notoriété. It can be strong evidence of the UK administration, but the bank still needs to know whether French law, the law chosen in a will, an EU succession rule that remains relevant to the case, or another applicable rule identifies the person entitled to the French account.

The point is illustrated by the Court of Cassation’s First Civil Chamber judgment of 28 June 1988, no. 86-13.639, available on Légifrance. In a case concerning a post-death mandate, the court used the principle that Ce mandat ne pouvant transgresser les règles d’ordre public en matière de succession. A power of attorney given while the account holder was alive cannot be treated as a private method of bypassing succession rules. If the bank has been told about the death, a former attorney should stop operating the account unless the bank and the succession professionals have identified a lawful operation.

For a joint account, a second decision is relevant. In its Commercial Chamber judgment of 15 January 2002, no. 99-18.451, the Court of Cassation examined the effect of a joint account and the surviving holder’s instructions; the official decision is available on Légifrance. The case should not be reduced to the slogan that “the survivor owns everything”. The bank’s ability to execute an instruction and the heirs’ rights in the deceased’s share are separate questions. A UK heir should ask for the account agreement, the balance at the date of death and the bank’s position on whether the account is joint or individual before accepting an unexplained refusal.

This is also why the date and manner of the bank’s notification matter. Send the death certificate and the first request for documents in a way that creates a record. Ask the bank to state in writing whether it requires an acte de notoriété, a tax certificate, an apostilled UK document, a certified translation, or a different item. A generic request for “probate papers” is not precise enough for a cross-border file.

If a French notary is already involved, send the notary the full UK probate file, not only the first page of the grant. Include the will, any codicil, the grant, the inventory or estate accounts relevant to the French asset, and evidence of any renunciation or disclaimer. Ask the notary to explain in writing which document will be sent to the bank and whether the notary considers that the UK grant must be apostilled and translated. The official UK guidance explains the role of the executor and the probate application through its pages on applying for probate and probate where there is a will. Those pages are useful for assembling the UK side, but they do not remove the French bank’s own requirements.

Finally, do not confuse a bank release with a property sale. If the estate also contains a French house, the notarial and tax steps for the house can be much more extensive. A bank account may be only one line in the French declaration, and the simplified account procedure may be unavailable because the estate contains French real property. The question must be answered on the facts of the whole succession, not on the amount visible in the current account alone.

B. Why does a French bank ask for a tax certificate when the heir is in the UK?

Proof of heirship answers the question “who may receive the funds?” A tax certificate answers a different question: “has the French tax authority received the succession information and confirmed that the tax position does not prevent the release?” A bank can require both. The fact that the beneficiary is British, lives in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, or is represented by a UK executor does not make the French tax step disappear.

The French tax rules begin with Article 750 ter of the General Tax Code, which states: Sont soumis aux droits de mutation à titre gratuit :. The provision sets out connecting factors including the deceased’s residence, the heir’s residence and assets situated in France. A French bank claim is not analysed in isolation from those factors. The correct tax filing route can therefore depend on where the deceased lived, where the heir lived on the relevant dates, the nature of the account, any French assets and any international tax convention.

The document commonly described in English as a French tax clearance certificate may be a certificat de paiement ou de non-exigibilité. The first expression means a certificate that the inheritance tax has been paid; the second means that the tax authority has confirmed that no payment is currently required. Do not assume that “no tax due” means “no certificate needed”. The French tax authority’s English guidance says: When one of the heirs is resident outside France, this certificate is required for the release of the funds by a bank or credit institution located in France. The guidance is available on the official impots.gouv.fr page on obtaining a certificate of payment or non-payability.

For bank accounts, the relevant succession declaration forms commonly include forms 2705 and 2705-S. Form 2705-A concerns life-insurance arrangements and should not be substituted for the bank-account forms. The current form family and filing instructions should be checked on the official impots.gouv.fr succession-declaration page. If the deceased was not resident in France, the Non-Residents Collection Office, called the Recette des Non-Résidents in French, may be involved. If the deceased lived in France, the competent tax office may instead depend on the deceased’s last French domicile. The bank’s branch is not the authority that decides the correct filing destination.

The declaration itself has content requirements. Article 800 of the General Tax Code provides that heirs, legatees and donees must submit a detailed declaration, subject to the statutory exceptions. Article 801 requires the declaration to contain identifying information for the heirs and other persons concerned. Its practical significance for a British heir is easy to underestimate: foreign birth certificates, name changes, marriage documents and proof of residence may be needed to establish the identity chain. A transliteration difference between a passport, a birth certificate and a will can delay the certificate.

The bank may also ask for a document because the estate includes more than cash. Article 806 of the General Tax Code concerns declarations by custodians, banks, insurers and other holders of assets belonging to an estate. It is part of the reason a bank may request an account statement at the date of death, information on securities, or confirmation that another institution is handling a life-insurance policy. Give the bank the information it needs, but do not send unrelated private material without first understanding the request.

The fee regime also changed in 2026. Article L. 312-1-4-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code now frames succession-account fees within a statutory cap. The Conseil constitutionnel’s Decision no. 2026-1207 QPC of 19 June 2026 struck down the provisions that made certain cases automatically free; its reasoning described the contested rule as causing les dispositions contestées portent, au regard de l’objectif poursuivi, une atteinte disproportionnée. The current public guidance describes a ceiling of 1% of the relevant balances, subject to an absolute maximum of €857. The precise amount charged by the bank should be checked against the current legal text and the date of the operation.

This change has two consequences for a British heir. First, a foreign element does not itself make the bank entitled to invent an unlimited administration charge. Second, the fact that the account is below €5,965 does not necessarily mean that every bank service will be free after the constitutional decision. The simplified proof route and the fee rules are related but distinct. Ask for the legal and contractual basis of the fee, the balance used for calculation and the date on which the bank considered the file complete.

The UK tax position must be kept separate. UK inheritance tax may be relevant to UK assets, the deceased’s domicile and the structure of the estate even where a French bank holds the particular funds. HM Revenue & Customs publishes its guidance on the inheritance tax position when someone living outside the UK dies, and its international manual contains France-specific material on double-tax relief and clearance evidence, including IHTM27174. A French bank is not the body that grants UK probate or decides the final UK inheritance-tax liability. Conversely, a UK executor should not tell the French bank that the UK tax filing alone clears a French account.

Documents issued in the United Kingdom may need an apostille and a French translation. An apostille is an official certificate attached to a public document for use abroad; it does not translate the document and does not prove that every statement in the document is correct. The UK government explains the process on its legalise a document page. Ask the French notary or bank whether the specific document requires an apostille, a sworn French translation, or both. A translation made by a family member is unlikely to satisfy a bank’s formal requirement.

II. How to release the funds and challenge a refusal

A. What documents and steps should a UK heir send to the French bank?

A successful file is organised around the bank’s exact objection. Sending ten attachments without a covering schedule can create a second delay because the bank cannot tell which document answers which question. Use a numbered PDF bundle, keep the originals, and request an acknowledgement of receipt. The following sequence is a practical route for a British heir.

1. Record the account and the death. Identify the bank, branch, account type, account number, balance if known, date of death and date on which the bank was notified. Send the death certificate and ask the bank to confirm the date of blocking. If the death occurred in the UK or another country, request the form of certified copy and translation the bank will accept before ordering several versions.
2. Identify the people who may inherit. Prepare a family tree, birth and marriage certificates, death certificates of earlier heirs, divorce orders where relevant, and evidence of name changes. Explain whether the deceased left a spouse, civil partner, children, adopted children, or a surviving parent. A British will should be supplied in full, including codicils and any document revoking an earlier will.
3. Build the UK probate file. Supply the grant, the will, the executor’s identification and, where relevant, the valuation of the French account. If the UK court has issued Letters of Administration rather than a Grant of Probate, say so. The distinction helps the French notary understand whether the document proves an executor’s authority or identifies the people entitled under intestacy.
4. Obtain French proof of heirship. Ask the French notary whether an acte de notoriété is required or whether the simplified direct-line procedure can be used. If there is a will, a minor heir, a dispute, French real property, an uncertain family relationship or a foreign-law question, expect the notary route to be safer. Article 730-1 of the Civil Code makes the notarial deed a recognised route to proving the status of heir; a bank should not be asked to decide a complex international succession from a cover letter.
5. Check whether the simplified account procedure is available. Confirm the statutory threshold, whether the estate includes French real property, whether all heirs agree, and whether the applicant is in the direct line. Article L. 312-1-4 of the Monetary and Financial Code is the reference point. If one condition is missing, ask the bank to specify which condition it considers unmet instead of continuing to resend the same signed declaration.
6. Prepare the French tax declaration. Establish where the deceased was resident, where each heir was resident and which French assets exist. Complete the relevant succession forms, generally including 2705 and 2705-S for bank assets where required. The official tax service may ask for the death certificate, the will or acte de notoriété, bank statements, valuations, proof of family relationship and evidence of prior gifts. Keep a copy of everything actually filed.
7. Request the certificate of payment or non-payability. Ask the competent French tax office for the certificate and state that it is needed to release funds held by a French bank for a UK-resident heir. If the deceased was non-resident, check the Non-Residents Collection Office route. If the deceased was resident in France, confirm the correct local tax office. The written request should identify the bank, account, date of death, deceased, heirs and the forms filed.
8. Regularise UK documents for France. Where requested, obtain the apostille and a translation by a translator whose work the French notary or bank accepts. Do not assume that a solicitor’s certification, a notary’s stamp or a court seal has the same effect as an apostille. Put the original-language document and translation next to each other in the index.
9. Send one release request to the bank. The request should cite the account, attach the heirship evidence and tax certificate, state the destination account, and ask for written confirmation of the amount to be transferred after lawful fees. If the heir is represented, attach the representative’s mandate and identification. Ask the bank to confirm whether it needs the original documents by post or accepts secure electronic copies before sending originals.
10. Follow up against a deadline. Give the bank a reasonable date for a substantive response and ask it to list any remaining missing document in one reply. If the bank says that the file is with compliance, request confirmation that the succession documents have been transmitted to the relevant department. A compliance review can be legitimate, but “compliance” without a defined missing item is not an effective explanation of a continuing hold.

The legal position on expenses should be documented separately from the release request. Article 784 of the French Civil Code states that Les actes purement conservatoires, de surveillance et d’administration provisoire peuvent être accomplis sans emporter acceptation de la succession. The provision matters where a family member needs to pay funeral expenses, preserve a home or prevent a loss while deciding whether to accept or renounce the succession. Paying an authorised expense is not the same as taking the deceased’s entire balance.

Use the bank’s own secure channel for identification documents. A UK heir should not place a passport, bank statements and a death certificate in an unencrypted email if the bank provides a secure portal. At the same time, preserve the email trail proving what was sent. Ask for a case number and the name of the department responsible for the succession file. These small details become important if the bank later says that it never received the tax certificate.

Keep a calculation of the expected balance. Start with the balance at the date of death, add or subtract any post-death operations authorised by the bank, identify account fees, and record the net sum requested. Where the bank uses the 1% cap, ask it to show the calculation and maximum applied under Article L. 312-1-4-1. This does not mean the bank must disclose information about another customer, but it should be able to explain its charge on the estate account.

There are two internal links worth keeping in the case file. The article on a UK executor dealing with a French inheritance, apostille, translation and a notary refusal covers the wider document problem. The separate article on a French bank freezing a UK transfer after Brexit concerns source-of-funds and anti-money-laundering review. Do not merge those issues. In a succession file, the bank may ask both why the money is being released and why a later transfer is being sent to the UK, but the evidence for each question is different.

The timeline varies. A simple account with complete civil-status documents may be dealt with after the bank accepts the signed heir declaration and any tax document. A file requiring an acte de notoriété, a foreign-law analysis, a tax certificate and an apostilled translation can take substantially longer. Do not promise a fixed number of days based on the bank’s standard account-closure process. Instead, create milestones: death notified, bank requirements received, notary file opened, tax declaration filed, certificate requested, certificate issued, release request sent and payment confirmed.

B. What can a UK heir do if the French bank refuses or keeps delaying?

The first response to a refusal is classification, not an immediate accusation. Ask which of these grounds the bank relies on:

• the bank does not accept the UK grant as proof of entitlement;
• the bank requires an acte de notoriété or a complete family file;
• the certificate of payment or non-payability is missing;
• the account is joint and the deceased’s share has not been determined;
• the balance or the presence of French property removes the simplified route;
• the bank has opened a separate source-of-funds or anti-money-laundering review; or
• the bank disputes the destination account, identification or authority of the representative.

Send a formal letter in French or in clear bilingual form. Identify the deceased, the account, the date of death and the documents already supplied. State the precise result requested: either release of the undisputed amount, a written list of missing documents, or a reasoned refusal. Attach an index rather than a pile of files. If the bank has relied on a standard form, ask it to identify the statutory provision or contractual clause that makes the form necessary in this particular succession.

If the refusal is based on the absence of French heirship evidence, ask the notary to contact the bank directly. A notary’s letter cannot cure every defect, but it often resolves the practical mismatch between a UK executor’s authority and the French bank’s need to identify the heirs. If the bank refuses to recognise an otherwise complete acte de notoriété, request the exact reason, including whether the problem concerns translation, apostille, an omitted heir or the applicable law.

If the refusal is tax-based, do not argue only that the account is small or that no inheritance tax is due. Ask the tax office what declaration and certificate are required, and ask the bank whether it will accept a certificate of non-payability rather than a payment receipt. The official French tax page expressly connects the certificate to releasing funds for an heir resident outside France. A copy of the filing acknowledgement and a copy of the certificate request can show that the file is moving, but they may not replace the certificate itself.

If the bank is charging fees, separate the fee challenge from the entitlement challenge. A bank can have a legitimate need to verify the succession and still calculate a fee incorrectly. Under the post-2026 regime, check the 1% ceiling and the absolute cap against the current wording of Article L. 312-1-4-1 and the date of the transaction. The constitutional decision removed certain automatic free cases; it did not create a blank cheque for unlimited charges.

The Court of Cassation’s decisions help identify what evidence matters when money has moved before or after death. In its Commercial Chamber judgment of 26 June 2012, no. 11-21.160, the court stated: Il appartient à l’administration fiscale de démontrer que les sommes retirées des comptes du défunt ont été conservées dans son patrimoine jusqu’au jour de son décès; the official text is on Légifrance. The case does not mean every withdrawal is wrongful. It shows why bank statements, explanations of withdrawals and evidence of who retained the money can matter in a tax dispute.

The same evidential issue appears in the Commercial Chamber judgment of 30 October 1989, no. 88-13.015, available on Légifrance. The court explained that, once the heirs provide the relevant evidence, il appartient alors à l’Administration d’apporter, par des présomptions de fait, la preuve of the alleged conservation of funds. A later decision of 13 December 1994, no. 93-12.797, is also available on Légifrance. These authorities are useful when a bank or tax service treats an unexplained historic movement as a reason to block the entire account, but the correct response depends on the actual statements and the legal question being asked.

Where a power of attorney was used before death, the Commercial Chamber judgment of 1 June 1993, no. 91-17.682, held that it was for the tax administration to prove that sums withdrawn under the power had been retained by the agent; the decision is available on Légifrance. This is not a licence to keep withdrawing money. It is a reminder that the person challenging a movement, the heirs and the tax authority may carry different evidential burdens. Preserve statements and explanations instead of making a broad admission in correspondence with the bank.

Three recurring examples show how the route changes:

1. A direct child, a small individual account and no French property. The child may ask whether the simplified Article L. 312-1-4 route is available, prepare the signed heir declaration, prove the family line and deal with the tax certificate required because the child lives in the UK. The amount threshold is not a substitute for the tax analysis.
2. A UK resident executor, a French bank account of €40,000 and a French will dispute. The executor should not demand payment solely on the strength of the grant. The file will normally need a notarial analysis, an acte de notoriété or another recognised proof, a succession declaration and the certificate of payment or non-payability. If an heir contests the will, the bank is likely to preserve the funds until the dispute is resolved or a court order provides a route.
3. A surviving spouse operating a joint account. The survivor may have been able to use the account after the death, but the bank’s operational permission does not determine the deceased’s estate share. Obtain the account terms, date-of-death balance and transaction history. If the heirs suspect transfers, obtain advice before accusing the survivor or signing a tax statement that treats the whole balance as belonging to one person.

If the bank’s internal complaint does not resolve the matter, consider the appropriate escalation: the bank’s complaints department, the relevant banking mediator where the dispute falls within mediation, the notary’s formal intervention, the competent French court, or a tax challenge if the obstruction comes from the tax authority rather than the bank. A court application must be selected carefully. A fast procedure is not automatically suitable where the identity of the heirs, the applicable law or the tax liability is genuinely disputed. The evidence should show that the applicant supplied a complete file, asked for a precise reason and separated the undisputed amount from any contested part.

Do not send a threatening letter alleging that the bank is committing theft simply because the account remains frozen. A bank that has received notice of a death may have a legal reason to preserve the assets. The stronger letter identifies the missing step, supplies it where possible and asks for a decision on a defined timetable. If the bank refuses to state its reason, that refusal itself should be recorded and taken to the lawyer, not replaced by speculation about Brexit.

For a UK heir, the practical checklist before escalating is short:

• death certificate accepted by the bank;
• complete will and UK probate document;
• family-tree and civil-status evidence;
• apostille and certified French translation if required;
• acte de notoriété or valid simplified heir declaration;
• correct French succession forms;
• certificate of payment or non-payability, or a written tax-office explanation of the alternative;
• account type, date-of-death balance and transaction history;
• calculation of fees and net amount requested; and
• the bank’s latest written refusal or list of missing documents.

This file lets counsel distinguish an ordinary administrative delay from a refusal that affects an heir’s rights, a tax dispute, a disagreement between joint holders, or a movement of funds requiring a separate analysis. It also prevents the common mistake of asking the UK probate court, the French bank and the French tax office to solve one another’s problems.

Conclusion

A French bank account blocked after a death is released when three questions are answered with the right evidence: who is entitled, what French succession formalities apply, and whether the bank has a lawful basis to retain or charge against the funds. A UK Grant of Probate may answer part of the first question for the UK estate, but a French bank may still require an acte de notoriété, a simplified French heir declaration, an apostilled translation or a tax certificate. For a UK-resident heir, the certificate of payment or non-payability is often the decisive missing item, even where the family believes that no French inheritance tax is payable.

The safest route is to obtain the bank’s written requirements, map each request to the death, heirship or tax evidence, file the French declarations through the correct tax office, and preserve a complete chronology. If the account is joint, if withdrawals are disputed, if a will is contested or if the bank gives only a generic compliance explanation, the file should be reviewed before any distribution is signed. That approach protects the estate while creating the evidence needed to challenge an unjustified delay.

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