Money and securities held in foreign accounts are among the most common — and the most fragile — parts of an estate. While the owner is alive, access seems to be taken for granted; after death the account turns into an asset that the heirs must reclaim under the rules of a foreign country, in a foreign language, and through an unfamiliar procedure. How the account is arranged in advance decides whether the family gains access in weeks or loses years to it.
Concept
A foreign account does not pass to the heirs automatically on the owner's death. The bank may restrict access and require proof of entitlement in a form accepted under the account terms and local procedure; a foreign inheritance certificate may need recognition, translation or additional documents. Those release requirements are separate from the law determining the heirs and their shares. The bank's location alone does not determine the applicable succession law. (Sources: EU succession rules).
A foreign account may be restricted after the owner's death, depending on its terms and local rules. The bank's requirements for releasing funds and recognising documents are separate from the law determining inheritance. Joint ownership or designated beneficiaries can simplify access where the relevant rules allow.
Freezing and Access
The bank learns of the death from a relative's notice, from returned correspondence, or through its own checks, and stops operations at once. It then waits not for any papers but for a specific set that confirms both the fact of inheritance and the heir's identity by local standards. Until that point the funds are available at most for funeral costs and taxes — and not even everywhere. The real time to unfreeze is therefore measured in months, and where the heirs are in dispute it stretches into years.
Documents and Timelines
What exactly the bank will require depends on the country. In continental Europe it is usually a local certificate of inheritance or its equivalent; in common-law countries, a grant of probate or letters of administration. For estates with a European element the European Certificate of Succession applies — a single document recognised by every state bound by the Regulation. Russian papers must be apostilled abroad (or legalised, if the country is not party to the Hague Convention) and accompanied by a sworn translation. Assembling and getting this package recognised is the main reason access stretches over months.
Brokerage Portfolios and US-situs
A particular risk is a brokerage portfolio holding US securities. Shares in US-incorporated companies count as US-situs assets even when bought through a European broker or registered to a nominee.
On value above $60,000 the estate of a non-resident non-citizen is charged federal estate tax at up to 40%, and that threshold has not been indexed since the Tax Reform Act of 1976, when Pub. L. 94-455 (§ 2001(c)(1)(J)(ii)) raised it in §6018(a)(2) from $30,000 to the present $60,000 for decedents dying after 31 December 1976. The Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of 1988 (Pub. L. 100-647, § 5032) left the figure alone: it merely restated the credit under §2102(b)(1) from $3,600 to $13,000 when non-residents moved off the old schedule (6% on the first $100,000) onto the general §2001(c) rates, for decedents dying after 10 November 1988; the exemption equivalent of either credit is the same $60,000.
US bank deposits, Treasury bonds, and bonds falling under the portfolio interest exemption drop out of situs, however. A tax treaty between the US and the deceased's country can raise the exempt amount; the threshold rules and Form 706-NA are set out by the IRS.
Europe: Brussels IV and the Single Certificate
In the European Union, cross-border succession is governed by Regulation (EU) No 650/2012, known as Brussels IV. As a general rule the estate is governed by the law of the country of the deceased's last habitual residence, though a will can choose the law of one's nationality in advance (professio juris). It was this Regulation that introduced the European Certificate of Succession, replacing separate procedures in each country. It applies across almost all of the EU, but Denmark and Ireland do not take part — national rules remain in force there.
United Kingdom: From 2025, by Residence
From 6 April 2025 the UK inheritance tax is tied to long-term residence rather than domicile. A long-term resident — someone who has been UK tax-resident for at least 10 of the last 20 years — pays IHT on worldwide assets; everyone else answers only for assets with a UK situs. The rate remains 40% above the nil-rate band of £325,000. UK shares and sterling accounts fall under IHT regardless of where their owner lived (a foreign-currency account with a UK bank is left out of the estate of someone who was neither UK-resident nor a long-term resident, s. 157 IHTA 1984), and after leaving the country a "tail" of between 3 and 10 years persists. Rates across countries are easy to compare on the inheritance-tax map.
CRS: Who Sees What
Under the CRS standard, banks automatically report account information to the tax authorities of the country where the owner was tax-resident. So the state is most likely aware of the account's very existence. That does not help the heirs: the bank is under no duty to track them down and will not report the account on its own initiative. If the owner left no list of accounts, the family often learns of them by chance — from bank letters, phone apps, or old statements. A map of accounts drawn up during one's lifetime therefore saves both time and money.
How to Simplify
A few concrete steps speed up access. First, a map of accounts: where they are held, of what type, with managers' contacts and details, updated at least once a year. Second, joint accounts and designated beneficiaries (joint account, payable-on-death) where local law allows it. Third, for large portfolios, a trust or a family holding: these hold the assets and survive the founder's death without freezing. And finally, a will that expressly covers the foreign assets and is aligned with the law of the country where the account is held.
Eight Banking Jurisdictions Side by Side
The general rule — the bank's own country decides — plays out differently in each of the places where families usually keep accounts. The table sets eight of them against the questions heirs actually face: which document unlocks the account, what happens to a grant or certificate issued elsewhere, whether a joint account passes to the survivor, whether a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designation exists, and whether a tax clearance must come first.
| Bank's country | Document that unlocks the account | Grant or certificate from abroad | Joint account with survivorship | POD / TOD designation | Clearance before release |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | Certificate of inheritance; heirs named in a will receive it no earlier than a month after the parties are notified (art. 559 Civil Code) | Foreign certificates recognised under the PILA; apostille and translation | By bank contract: the survivor keeps signing power, ownership still follows succession law | No statutory designation | — |
| United Kingdom | Grant of probate or letters of administration; small balances released under each bank's own limit | A UK grant is needed; resealing only for listed Commonwealth grants | Passes to the surviving holder automatically | Not for bank accounts | Non-excepted estate: IHT400 to HMRC and any tax due paid before applying for probate; an excepted estate only reports values on the application |
| United States | Letters testamentary or of administration from the state court; small-estate affidavit below state limits | Ancillary probate in each state holding assets | Right of survivorship | POD for deposits; TOD for securities in almost every state | Non-resident decedent with US-situs assets above USD 60,000: IRS transfer certificate (Form 5173) before a custodian releases US securities |
| Singapore | Grant of probate or letters of administration | Resealing of grants from listed Commonwealth jurisdictions; otherwise a Singapore grant | By bank terms | — | None: estate duty repealed from 15 February 2008 |
| Hong Kong | Grant from the Probate Registry | Resealing of Commonwealth and specified grants (Cap. 10); otherwise a Hong Kong grant | By bank terms | — | None for deaths on or after 11 February 2006 |
| UAE | Court succession order; DIFC probate where a DIFC Will governs | Foreign documents legalised and attested, then a UAE court order | — | — | None |
| Cyprus | Letters of administration or probate from the District Court | Foreign grant resealed by the District Court | By bank terms | — | Tax Commissioner's written authorisation before a bank pays out the deceased's deposits, and his no-objection certificate before the grant (Law 78(I)/2000, ss. 5(3), 7); estate duty abolished for deaths from 1 January 2000 |
| Luxembourg | Notarial deed of heirship or European Certificate of Succession | ECS accepted directly; non-EU certificates with apostille and translation | By bank contract | — | Non-resident's estate: no Luxembourg tax on accounts, only on Luxembourg real estate |
The split that matters most runs between grant countries and certificate countries. The United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, Hong Kong and Cyprus want a grant from their own court, and a foreign one helps only where the statute allows resealing; a Swiss, Luxembourg or other continental bank accepts a certificate, and inside the EU the European Certificate of Succession travels without any recognition step. A portfolio spread between London, New York and Zurich therefore needs three procedures, not one, and the longest of them sets the family's timetable.
The second split is between accounts that pass outside the estate and accounts that wait for it. The United States has the fullest toolkit — POD on deposits, TOD registration on securities, survivorship on joint accounts — but pairs it with one of the two hard tax gates on the list: where a non-resident decedent's US-situs assets exceed USD 60,000, a US custodian will not release the US securities without the IRS transfer certificate, which in turn waits until the estate tax under Form 706-NA is paid or provided for. The other gate is Cypriot: a bank there pays out a deceased customer's deposits only with the Tax Commissioner's written authorisation. English joint accounts pass to the survivor by law; elsewhere survivorship is a matter of the bank's terms, and the survivor's signing power does not settle who owns the money under succession law. How the will should be split across these countries is set out in multi-jurisdiction wills; the tax that sits behind each account, in the inheritance tax map; what situs each asset carries, in movable asset situs.
Profile → set-up
| Holding | What slows the heirs down | Set-up during life |
|---|---|---|
| US brokerage account of a non-resident | Form 706-NA and the transfer certificate | TOD registration where the custodian offers it, non-US funds instead of US shares, or a holding structure |
| Accounts in London and Singapore | A local grant in each place | A local will per country and a list of accounts with contacts |
| Swiss private-bank account | Certificate of inheritance, apostilled foreign papers | Joint account or a power of attorney valid after death, set by the bank's terms |
| Accounts across several EU states | Separate national procedures | A choice of law in the will and a European Certificate of Succession |
| Dubai account, non-Muslim owner | A UAE court order | A registered DIFC or Abu Dhabi will covering UAE assets |
Q/A
Why can a US custodian refuse to release a foreign client's shares after death?
Because the law makes the custodian answerable for US estate tax on a non-resident decedent's US-situs assets. Before transferring US securities to heirs, custodians ask for an IRS transfer certificate (Form 5173), which the IRS issues once the estate tax reported on Form 706-NA has been paid or provided for. Where the US-situs assets do not exceed USD 60,000, no certificate is required: the custodian may rely on the executor's statement of the facts, and the IRS answers a request with a letter that no certificate will be issued. A TOD registration speeds up the change of owner but does not remove this tax step.
Does a joint account give the surviving holder the money outright?
It depends on the bank's country. Under English law a joint account passes to the survivor automatically; in the United States that follows from a right-of-survivorship account. In Switzerland and most civil-law systems survivorship is a term of the bank contract: the survivor can keep operating the account, but ownership of the balance is still decided by succession law and forced heirship.
Will a foreign bank accept a Russian certificate of inheritance?
Not automatically. The bank tests the document against the applicable law and its own procedure; the Russian certificate may need an apostille or legalisation, an official translation and recognition locally. In participating EU states, a European Certificate of Succession may be used for a cross-border estate.
Does using a European broker remove US estate-tax risk on US shares?
No. The IRS treats stock of corporations organised under US law as US-situs even when held through a foreign broker or nominee. For an estate of a person who was neither a US citizen nor US-domiciled, Form 706-NA is generally required when US-situs assets exceed USD 60,000; an applicable treaty may change the result.
Does a European Certificate of Succession work throughout the EU?
No. Regulation (EU) 650/2012 operates between participating Member States, but Ireland and Denmark do not participate. The competent succession authority issues the certificate; it can then prove an heir’s status and powers in other participating states without a separate recognition procedure.
Will CRS tell the heirs which bank held the deceased’s account?
No. CRS is an annual exchange of financial-account information between tax authorities based on the account holder’s tax residence; it is not an heir-search register and does not require the bank to find beneficiaries. A current account map and provider contacts therefore remain a separate part of succession planning.
Does UK inheritance tax on foreign accounts end as soon as I leave?
No. From 6 April 2025, foreign assets fall within UK IHT for a long-term resident, generally someone resident in at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years. After departure that status can continue for 3 to 10 tax years depending on the earlier residence period; the situs of each asset must also be checked.