A British executor may know that a deceased family member had links with France without knowing every French bank, savings product or safe-deposit box. A bank statement found in a drawer may identify one account but not the others. A French notary may ask for a complete statement of assets, while the executor in England, Scotland or Northern Ireland is still trying to establish what exists. The French answer is often FICOBA, the national register of bank accounts and similar arrangements. It can identify French accounts and rented safe-deposit boxes connected with the deceased. It does not, however, show the balance or the transactions, and it does not itself decide who owns the money.<\/p>\n
This distinction matters after Brexit. A UK grant of probate or other grant may establish the executor\u2019s authority to administer an estate in the relevant UK jurisdiction, but it is not automatically a French certificate of heirship. French succession evidence, tax evidence and bank evidence have separate functions. The executor should therefore use FICOBA as an investigative starting point, then ask each identified bank for the date-of-death balance, statements and release requirements. This article addresses that route for a British executor or heir dealing with a person\u2019s estate in France. It does not concern a property purchase or the formation of a company. The legal texts, decisions and official guidance linked below were checked on 28 August 2026.<\/p>\n
The existing guide on unblocking a known French bank account after a death<\/a> deals with the release problem. The present guide starts earlier: what to do when the family does not know all the accounts, suspects that an account was omitted from the inventory, or needs proof before asking a bank to disclose the estate balance.<\/p>\n French succession rights arise at death, not when a bank accepts an executor\u2019s letter. Article 720 of the French Civil Code<\/a> states: The register is maintained by the French tax administration, the Direction g\u00e9n\u00e9rale des finances publiques (DGFiP). The official Service-Public FICOBA guidance<\/a> explains that it lists current accounts, savings accounts, securities accounts and rented safe-deposit boxes opened in France. It records the bank\u2019s name and address, the identity of the account holder or holders, the essential characteristics of the account, and the date and nature of an opening, modification or closure. The register can therefore answer a first practical question: which French institution should receive a succession inquiry?<\/p>\n It cannot answer the questions that come next. Service-Public expressly states that FICOBA does not contain the detail of operations or the balance. A result showing a savings account is not proof that a particular sum remained in it at the date of death. A result showing a closed account is not proof that the money was paid to the correct beneficiary. A result showing a joint account is not proof that the surviving holder owned all of the funds. Each result must be followed by a direct request to the bank, supported by proof of heirship and the relevant date.<\/p>\n The statutory background is Article 1649 A of the French General Tax Code<\/a>. Its first paragraph provides: The register also has a time dimension. The current official guidance says that the information is retained for the life of the account and for ten years after closure. Banks are required to update the register after an opening, modification or closure. A British family investigating a recent death should therefore search under every reliable civil-status combination: the deceased\u2019s full name, former name, date and place of birth, and known French addresses. A difference in spelling, a married name or an incorrect date can produce a record that needs to be checked with the bank rather than dismissed.<\/p>\n FICOBA is French in scope. It is not a register of a deceased person\u2019s UK current accounts, ISAs, Premium Bonds, pensions or investment platforms. The executor must open a separate UK asset investigation through the probate and financial institutions relevant to the deceased\u2019s UK life. The second paragraph of Article 1649 A concerns the obligation of persons domiciled or established in France to declare foreign accounts in the French tax return. It does not mean that a UK executor can discover every UK account by asking FICOBA. A French result and a British result should be placed in the same estate schedule, but they should remain separately sourced.<\/p>\n FICOBA should also be distinguished from other French databases. FICOVIE concerns certain life-insurance and capitalisation contracts; a safe-deposit box entry is not an insurance-beneficiary record. Ciclade, operated by the Caisse des d\u00e9p\u00f4ts, may help with money transferred after a bank treated an account as inactive. The official Ciclade service is a later recovery route, not a replacement for the FICOBA search. A solicitor, executor or heir should record which database was searched and what it can actually prove.<\/p>\n A FICOBA result also does not establish the governing law of the succession. Article 724 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides: There is a further reason to avoid treating a register entry as a final answer. The bank may have recorded a mandate holder, a co-holder or an address that is no longer current. The official guidance states that the identity of a person authorised to act on an account may also be reported. A name appearing beside the deceased\u2019s name therefore needs interpretation. Ask for the account agreement, the authority recorded by the bank and the movements required to establish beneficial ownership. The word \u201cbeneficial\u201d is used here to describe the person entitled to the money, not merely the person whose name appears on a database.<\/p>\n For a British executor, the practical output of FICOBA should be an institution list, not an assumed asset value. Create one line for every result and record the bank, branch or registered address, account type, account number if supplied, opening or closing information, names of holders and the next document required. Add a column for \u201cbalance at death requested\u201d, another for \u201cstatements requested\u201d, and another for \u201cresponse received\u201d. This simple separation prevents an executor from reporting a register entry as cash or from treating a bank\u2019s eventual response as if it had been available on the date of death.<\/p>\n The right to request information is connected to the succession, not to the applicant\u2019s nationality. Article 730 of the Civil Code<\/a> states: The document most often used in France is the acte de notori\u00e9t\u00e9<\/em>, which means a notarial deed recording the people who have a claim to the succession. Article 730-1 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides: The effect of the deed is important but limited. Article 730-3 of the Civil Code<\/a> says: The current Service-Public procedure is specific for a deceased person\u2019s account. An heir must make the request by post to the Centre national de traitement FBFV, BP 31, 77421 Marne-La-Vall\u00e9e Cedex 02. The required documents are a copy of the death certificate, proof of the applicant\u2019s identity and a document proving that the applicant is an heir. The request is free. The official page also confirms that a notary handling a succession can access FICOBA for the purposes of the mandate. Before sending documents from the UK, keep a complete scan and ask whether the receiving service requires a certified copy, an apostille or a French translation for the particular proof of heirship. Do not assume that one form of UK grant will be accepted in every French file.<\/p>\n Article L151 B of the French Book of Tax Procedures<\/a> gives the notary\u2019s statutory route. It states: A British executor should describe the role accurately. An executor administers an estate under a UK grant. An heir receives rights under the applicable succession law. A legatee receives under a will. A notary or solicitor may act under a mandate. One person can hold more than one of those roles, but the supporting documents should make clear which capacity is being used. If the applicant is only an executor and not an heir, the safer route is usually to instruct the French notary or obtain authority from the persons entitled to the succession rather than signing a request that says \u201cI am an heir\u201d when that is not true.<\/p>\n Do not continue to use a deceased person\u2019s online banking password, card or old power of attorney while investigating. Article 2003 of the Civil Code<\/a> states: The FICOBA request should be indexed. Put the deceased\u2019s full identity and date of death on a covering letter, state that the request concerns the settlement of the succession, identify the applicant\u2019s precise capacity, list the enclosures and ask for confirmation if a document is missing. For a British applicant, include a clear explanation of the jurisdiction that issued the grant and the relationship between the grant, the will and the French succession. If the request is made by an heir, include the French acte de notori\u00e9t\u00e9 or other document proving that status. If the request is made through a notary, include the notary\u2019s mandate and ask the notary to record the search in the estate file.<\/p>\n Keep the proof of posting and the response. If the response is incomplete or contains an apparent error, compare it with the death certificate and the bank records. A correction of FICOBA data is normally pursued with the bank that supplied the information. Service-Public explains that incorrect data should be challenged by sending the necessary documents to the relevant bank. Since the current succession access route is direct with the tax administration, sending the request to the CNIL as if it were a pre-2025 indirect-access request may delay the investigation. The CNIL\u2019s current explanation confirms that heirs\u2019 succession requests go directly to the tax administration and that notaries have secure access for a succession they are handling.<\/p>\n The response should be reviewed against the estate chronology. A closed account may have been closed before death, after death, or after the balance was transferred elsewhere. An account opened shortly before death may contain a gift, a loan, a pension payment or an ordinary deposit. A safe-deposit box may require a separate inventory and access protocol. None of those conclusions can be drawn from the FICOBA line alone. The register gives the executor a defensible way to ask the right institution the right next question.<\/p>\n Once a bank appears in FICOBA, send a separate succession request to that bank. The request should identify the deceased, the date of death, the FICOBA reference or account information, the applicant\u2019s capacity and the notary\u2019s details. Ask the bank to confirm every product connected with the deceased: payment accounts, savings products, securities accounts, safe-deposit arrangements, deposits held for another purpose and any account closed during the relevant period. Ask for the date-of-death balance, the valuation of investments on that date, later movements, interest, charges, closure date, destination of any transferred balance and the documents required for release.<\/p>\n FICOBA\u2019s role is discovery. The bank\u2019s statement is the evidence needed for valuation. The executor should ask for a statement covering a reasonable period before death if there is a question about ownership, gifts, unusual withdrawals or a transfer to another institution. The request should not be an unbounded demand for every private record. Explain the issue: reconciling the account with the estate inventory, identifying the date-of-death balance, checking an alleged transfer or establishing whether a second account was funded from the first. A focused request is easier for a bank, notary or court to assess.<\/p>\n For an ordinary sole account, the death notification will usually cause the bank to stop normal operation while the succession file is prepared. For a joint or indivision account, the label of the account is only a starting point. Ask for the account agreement, the names of the co-holders, the rule governing operation after death and the statements needed to separate the deceased\u2019s economic contribution from the surviving holder\u2019s contribution. The present article does not treat every joint-account dispute as a hidden-account case. It identifies the point at which a FICOBA result must be followed by a precise ownership analysis.<\/p>\n The executor must also protect the estate while deciding whether to accept it. Article 784 of the Civil Code<\/a> states: If the account is needed to protect a French property, pay an urgent succession debt or preserve an asset, keep the invoice and show how any payment is applied. A British heir who is still considering renunciation should avoid signing a document that describes a personal withdrawal or transfer as a distribution. The safer format is a written request for a payment required to preserve the estate, made through the notary or another documented channel. The effect of a step on acceptance of the succession depends on its substance and the surrounding documents, not on the heading placed on an email.<\/p>\n The tax file should be updated after the bank responds. Article 800 of the French General Tax Code<\/a> provides: The bank may ask for a French tax receipt or a certificate showing that French inheritance tax is not payable or has been paid before releasing funds to a foreign beneficiary. That request is separate from FICOBA. FICOBA shows where to ask; it does not issue the tax certificate. Ask the bank to state in writing whether it needs proof of heirship, a tax document, a transfer instruction, a translated UK grant, an apostille, or a combination. A generic answer such as \u201cBrexit documents missing\u201d is not precise enough to identify the next action.<\/p>\n The UK side should be updated as well. Use the official GOV.UK probate guidance<\/a> for the procedure applicable to the grant, and the official GOV.UK Inheritance Tax guidance<\/a> for the UK reporting question. A French account may be relevant to the value of the UK estate even if French tax is also considered. Preserve the date-of-death balance, the currency conversion method, later interest, bank charges and any amount paid to the French tax authority. A French bank\u2019s delay does not justify leaving an identified asset out of a UK estate schedule.<\/p>\n If the bank\u2019s reply shows that the account was closed and the balance transferred to the Caisse des d\u00e9p\u00f4ts because it became inactive, search Ciclade with the deceased\u2019s identity and the relevant former addresses. If the bank says it has no record despite a FICOBA entry, ask it to explain whether the record concerns a different branch, a different holder, a closed product or a data error. If FICOBA shows nothing but documentary evidence strongly indicates a French account, write to the banks suggested by the deceased\u2019s papers, not only to the register. No single database is a complete inventory of every asset category or every historical transaction.<\/p>\n For each result, the executor should maintain four separate conclusions: existence, ownership, value and destination. \u201cExistence\u201d is supported by FICOBA or the institution. \u201cOwnership\u201d is supported by the account agreement, civil-law analysis and statements. \u201cValue\u201d is supported by a date-of-death statement or valuation. \u201cDestination\u201d is supported by the will, acte de notori\u00e9t\u00e9, tax position and signed payment instruction. A FICOBA line can support the first conclusion while leaving the other three open. This four-part method prevents a family disagreement from being hidden inside one unexplained number.<\/p>\n A blocked investigation should be classified before a remedy is chosen. There are at least five different problems: the tax administration has not responded to a properly documented FICOBA request; a bank will not provide the balance after a register hit; a notary has not included the result in the inventory; a co-heir refuses to provide documents or disputes ownership; or a bank record is inaccurate. Each problem needs a different recipient and a different proof. A general complaint saying that \u201cthe inheritance is blocked\u201d is less useful than a letter identifying the exact missing record and the legal purpose for which it is required.<\/p>\n Start with the bank. Send a dated request through its succession or complaints channel, attach the proof of death and heirship, identify the FICOBA result, and ask it to list every missing document and the legal or contractual reason for withholding each item. Ask for the date on which the bank registered the death, the person responsible for the file and the steps required to obtain statements and release. If the bank has already received the acte de notori\u00e9t\u00e9, ask whether its objection concerns the identity of the heir, the proportion stated, a tax document, an internal compliance review or a dispute notified by another person.<\/p>\n Next, write to the French notary. Ask for confirmation that FICOBA has been searched under the correct identity, whether FICOVIE or another relevant search is required, which accounts have been added to the inventory, and what further bank statements are needed. Cite the statutory route in Article L151 B of the Book of Tax Procedures<\/a> without suggesting that the notary can invent a balance that FICOBA does not contain. The notary\u2019s role is especially useful where the British applicant is an executor but not the heir, where several beneficiaries must sign, or where the bank will only communicate with a professional handling the succession.<\/p>\n If another heir may have omitted or concealed an account, do not call that conduct fraud before the evidence is collected. An unexplained omission can have innocent causes: the account was forgotten, it was closed, the record was under a different name, or the deceased held only a mandate. If evidence shows that an heir deliberately concealed a succession asset or another co-heir, Article 778 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides: Where several heirs are entitled to an account, the money may be held in an indivision, meaning joint ownership pending a division. Article 815 of the Civil Code<\/a> states: For administration, Article 815-3 of the Civil Code<\/a> provides that indivisaires holding at least two-thirds of the undivided rights may carry out certain acts of administration, while the consent of all is required for acts outside normal exploitation and for most acts of disposition. The article states: Urgency has its own procedure. The current Article 815-6 of the Civil Code<\/a> states: If the problem is evidence rather than immediate payment, consider a focused pre-action application. Article 145 of the Code of Civil Procedure<\/a> provides: The decision of the Second Civil Chamber of the Cour de cassation dated 3 February 2011, appeal no. 10-14.070, is a useful boundary. In its decision, the Court accepted a defined expert mission and described it as The Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat addressed the specific right of heirs to access FICOBA in its decision of 29 June 2011, no. 339147. The case concerned heirs seeking the list of accounts held by their deceased aunt. The decision upheld the reasoning that they were regarded, If the FICOBA data itself is wrong, send the correction request to the bank that declared the account. Attach the death certificate, the relevant FICOBA response and the document showing the error. Ask for confirmation that the bank has corrected both its own record and the data transmitted to the tax administration. If the error has affected the succession declaration, the notary or tax adviser should record the correction and assess whether a supplementary declaration or explanatory letter is needed. Do not delete the original incorrect response: retain it with the date of discovery and the correction evidence.<\/p>\n If the account was omitted from the notary\u2019s inventory, ask for a written explanation and a corrected asset schedule. If the notary says that the account was not part of the succession, ask which legal or factual reason supports that conclusion. An account held by a company, a spouse, a trust-like arrangement or a nominee may need a different analysis. The executor should ask for the documents supporting the classification rather than demanding that every FICOBA line be treated as personal cash. The distinction protects both the estate and the person whose account was recorded.<\/p>\n If a bank has all the necessary documents and still refuses to state its position, use the bank\u2019s formal complaint route and request a final written answer. Keep the complaint, the delivery proof and the response. A British applicant should avoid sending repeated unstructured emails from different family members, because that can create inconsistent descriptions of the deceased, the executor and the beneficiaries. One indexed file, with one nominated contact, makes a later complaint or court application easier to understand.<\/p>\n Finally, coordinate the French and UK evidence without merging the legal conclusions. The French bank needs the documents that prove the French succession and authorise the requested payment. The UK probate adviser needs the grant, the estate value and the authority to administer. HM Revenue & Customs may need evidence for a UK Inheritance Tax analysis, while the French tax service may need the detailed succession declaration and proof of the account value. A FICOBA result can be attached to all three files, but it answers only the question of where an account was recorded. The date-of-death bank statement, notary analysis and tax documents answer the later questions.<\/p>\n The most effective escalation package contains a chronology, the FICOBA request and response, the acte de notori\u00e9t\u00e9 or other heirship evidence, the UK grant if relevant, the bank\u2019s written refusal or silence, the specific statements requested, the notary\u2019s position, the tax deadline and the remedy sought. State whether the immediate objective is identification, preservation of evidence, correction of a record, payment of an urgent expense, release of funds or division between heirs. The recipient can then respond to a defined legal and practical question.<\/p>\n FICOBA is a powerful first step for a British executor who suspects that a deceased person held forgotten French bank accounts or rented a safe-deposit box. A British heir can request the deceased\u2019s information from the Centre national de traitement FBFV with a death certificate, identity document and proof of heirship. A French notary handling the succession has a direct statutory route. The Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat\u2019s decision no. 339147 confirms the legitimate interest of heirs in identifying the accounts that form part of the estate.<\/p>\n The register is not a bank statement, valuation, tax certificate or release instruction. It does not show the balance, transactions or ultimate ownership. After every result, the executor should contact the institution, obtain the date-of-death balance and statements, update the notary\u2019s asset schedule and coordinate the French and UK tax files. If a co-heir, bank or notary blocks the investigation, use a focused written request, a correction procedure, a partition route or a targeted evidence application. A defined issue and a documented chronology are the foundation of an effective remedy.<\/p>\n Telephone consultation within 48 hours with a lawyer from the firm.<\/p>\n We review the FICOBA response, the French succession documents and the bank\u2019s next release requirement.<\/p>\nI. How can a British executor use FICOBA to find a deceased person\u2019s French accounts?<\/h2>\n
A. What does FICOBA reveal about a forgotten French bank account?<\/h3>\n
Les successions s’ouvrent par la mort, au dernier domicile du d\u00e9funt.<\/q> In English, the estate opens on death at the deceased\u2019s last domicile. That rule identifies the starting point for the estate, but it does not tell the family which institutions held the deceased\u2019s assets. FICOBA fills part of that information gap for accounts and safe-deposit boxes located in France.<\/p>\n
Les administrations publiques, les \u00e9tablissements ou organismes soumis au contr\u00f4le de l’autorit\u00e9 administrative, les \u00e9tablissements b\u00e9n\u00e9ficiant des dispositions des articles L. 511-22 et L. 511-23 du code mon\u00e9taire et financier pour leurs op\u00e9rations avec des r\u00e9sidents fran\u00e7ais et toutes personnes qui re\u00e7oivent habituellement en d\u00e9p\u00f4t des valeurs mobili\u00e8res, titres ou fonds doivent d\u00e9clarer \u00e0 l’administration des imp\u00f4ts l’ouverture et la cl\u00f4ture des comptes de toute nature ainsi que la location de coffres-forts.<\/q> That reporting obligation explains why FICOBA may reveal an institution that no family member remembered. It does not turn the register into a valuation or transaction database.<\/p>\n
Les h\u00e9ritiers d\u00e9sign\u00e9s par la loi sont saisis de plein droit des biens, droits et actions du d\u00e9funt.<\/q> The heirs designated by law are vested by operation of law in the deceased\u2019s assets, rights and claims. In an international estate, that principle must be read with the will, the deceased\u2019s habitual residence, any valid choice of law and the rules applicable to the particular asset. FICOBA identifies a lead; it does not decide whether the account belongs to the succession, a spouse\u2019s separate property, a company or another legal arrangement.<\/p>\n
B. Who can request FICOBA and which documents prove the right to access it?<\/h3>\n
La preuve de la qualit\u00e9 d’h\u00e9ritier s’\u00e9tablit par tous moyens.<\/q> The evidence may take different forms, but a bank or the tax administration still needs a reliable basis for disclosing information about a deceased person. A British passport proves identity and nationality. It does not, by itself, prove that the applicant is an heir.<\/p>\n
La preuve de la qualit\u00e9 d’h\u00e9ritier peut r\u00e9sulter d’un acte de notori\u00e9t\u00e9 dress\u00e9 par un notaire, \u00e0 la demande d’un ou plusieurs ayants droit.<\/q> The same article requires the deed to refer to the death certificate, identify the supporting civil-status documents and record the signed affirmation of the applicant\u2019s hereditary entitlement. It is not the same document as an English grant of probate, Scottish confirmation or a grant issued in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
L’acte de notori\u00e9t\u00e9 ainsi \u00e9tabli fait foi jusqu’\u00e0 preuve contraire.<\/q> The deed is evidence until contrary proof is produced, and the person relying on it is presumed to have hereditary rights in the proportions it states. If a later will, an omitted child, a spouse\u2019s right or a dispute emerges, the deed and the FICOBA result must be reconsidered together. A register request should never be used to conceal a known dispute from the notary or the bank.<\/p>\n
Le notaire charg\u00e9 d’\u00e9tablir l’actif successoral en vue du r\u00e8glement de la succession pour laquelle il a \u00e9t\u00e9 mandat\u00e9 demande \u00e0 l’administration fiscale et obtient de celle-ci la communication des informations d\u00e9tenues par celle-ci en application de l’article 1649 A du code g\u00e9n\u00e9ral des imp\u00f4ts, afin d’identifier l’ensemble des comptes bancaires ouverts au nom du d\u00e9funt.<\/q> The next sentence adds:
En vue du r\u00e8glement d’une succession, les ayants droit obtiennent de l’administration fiscale les informations mentionn\u00e9es au premier alin\u00e9a du pr\u00e9sent 1.<\/q> The text gives both the appointed notary and the heirs a route, while the practical procedure differs.<\/p>\n
Le mandat finit :<\/q> and includes:
Par la mort, la tutelle des majeurs ou la d\u00e9confiture, soit du mandant, soit du mandataire.<\/q> A power of attorney ordinarily ends on death. The fact that an executor needs statements does not authorise a personal withdrawal or an attempt to operate the account as if the deceased were still alive. Notify the bank and request the records through the succession channel.<\/p>\n
II. How can a British executor turn a FICOBA result into a recoverable estate asset?<\/h2>\n
A. What should the executor demand from each bank after a FICOBA match?<\/h3>\n
Les actes purement conservatoires ou de surveillance et les actes d’administration provisoire peuvent \u00eatre accomplis sans emporter acceptation de la succession, si le successible n’y a pas pris le titre ou la qualit\u00e9 d’h\u00e9ritier.<\/q> The provision also identifies urgent payments of funeral costs, last illness expenses, taxes owed by the deceased, rent and other urgent succession debts as conservatory acts. Requesting a FICOBA result, securing statements and asking the bank to preserve records are investigative or protective steps. They are not permission to distribute the account to one beneficiary.<\/p>\n
I. \u2013 Les h\u00e9ritiers, l\u00e9gataires ou donataires, leurs tuteurs ou curateurs, sont tenus de souscrire une d\u00e9claration d\u00e9taill\u00e9e.<\/q> The provision contains limited exemptions for certain low-value estates and does not make a FICOBA result taxable cash. Its practical message is that the executor, heir or notary must reconcile the newly identified account with the detailed succession declaration or explain why it is not part of the taxable estate. Where a death, heir or account has a UK connection, keep the French declaration and the UK probate and tax file cross-referenced but distinct.<\/p>\n
B. What remedies apply when a bank, notary or co-heir blocks the search?<\/h3>\n
Sans pr\u00e9judice de dommages et int\u00e9r\u00eats, l’h\u00e9ritier qui a recel\u00e9 des biens ou des droits d’une succession ou dissimul\u00e9 l’existence d’un coh\u00e9ritier est r\u00e9put\u00e9 accepter purement et simplement la succession<\/q>. The provision can deprive the concealing heir of a share in the diverted or concealed rights and can require the return of fruits and income. A FICOBA result alone is not proof of the intention required for that sanction.<\/p>\n
Nul ne peut \u00eatre contraint \u00e0 demeurer dans l’indivision et le partage peut toujours \u00eatre provoqu\u00e9, \u00e0 moins qu’il n’y ait \u00e9t\u00e9 sursis par jugement ou convention.<\/q> The rule does not authorise one heir to take the whole balance. It supplies a route out of a deadlock through an agreed or judicial partition. A British heir who lives in the UK should ask the notary to identify the proposed distribution and the signature required from each person rather than accepting a transfer to the first person who contacts the bank.<\/p>\n
Toutefois, le consentement de tous les indivisaires est requis pour effectuer tout acte qui ne ressortit pas \u00e0 l’exploitation normale des biens indivis et pour effectuer tout acte de disposition autre que ceux vis\u00e9s au 3\u00b0.<\/q> This distinction helps explain why a bank may accept a request for information but refuse a final distribution instruction signed by only one beneficiary.<\/p>\n
Le pr\u00e9sident du tribunal judiciaire peut prescrire ou autoriser toutes les mesures urgentes que requiert l’int\u00e9r\u00eat commun.<\/q> It also allows, in suitable circumstances, an indivisaire to receive a provision from a depositor of undivided funds for urgent needs, subject to conditions of use, and permits the appointment of an administrator or sequestrator. A British heir should not treat this provision as an automatic order to release the whole account. It is a targeted judicial tool where the common interest and the urgency can be evidenced.<\/p>\n
S’il existe un motif l\u00e9gitime de conserver ou d’\u00e9tablir avant tout proc\u00e8s la preuve de faits dont pourrait d\u00e9pendre la solution d’un litige, les mesures d’instruction l\u00e9galement admissibles peuvent \u00eatre ordonn\u00e9es \u00e0 la demande de tout int\u00e9ress\u00e9, sur requ\u00eate ou en r\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9.<\/q> The request must identify the contemplated dispute, the relevant facts and the evidence sought. It should not become a general search through every relative\u2019s private finances.<\/p>\n
la mission expertale \u00e9tait limit\u00e9e \u00e0 la v\u00e9rification des transferts d’actifs survenus durant une p\u00e9riode d\u00fbment pr\u00e9cis\u00e9e entre le patrimoine du d\u00e9funt et celui de deux de ses h\u00e9ritiers<\/q>. The official decision is available on L\u00e9gifrance, Cour de cassation, Second Civil Chamber, 3 February 2011, no. 10-14.070<\/a>. For a British heir, the lesson is practical: a request for bank evidence should be tied to an identified estate issue and a defined period, such as transfers between a date before death and the date of death.<\/p>\n
en leur qualit\u00e9 d’ayants droit h\u00e9ritant des soldes des comptes bancaires<\/q>, as persons concerned for the purpose of access. The official decision is available on L\u00e9gifrance, Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat, 29 June 2011, no. 339147<\/a>. The modern statutory route now directs succession requests to the tax administration, but the decision explains why an heir\u2019s request is not a request by an unrelated stranger for another person\u2019s financial data.<\/p>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
Need a quick opinion on your case<\/h2>\n