Succession: Bank Charges Soon Capped at 850 Euros for Some… and Free for Others

Inheritance bank fees, to close a deceased person’s account, were, until now, invoiced by banks at different rates. But that will change from November.

Some changes are appearing regarding bank inheritance fees. A decree published in Official Journal from August 14, 2025 fixed a ceiling concerning the fees that a bank can charge you when closing a deceased person’s account.

Cases of free are also established, but not for everyone. New rules which will come into force on the 13th November 2025, after a law passed in Parliament last May.

Inheritance fees can no longer exceed 850 euros

“Following the death of one of their clients, and therefore when opening their 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 heirs”, recalls the service-public.fr site.

These transactions are generally charged by banks under the name “inheritance bank charges”. Until now, these fees were set freely by each banking establishment, their amount therefore varied greatly from one bank to another.

As of the 13th November 2025, these fees will be capped at 1% the total amount of account balances and the valuation of the deceased’s savings products; and they cannot exceed 850 euros.

This amount will be revalued on January 1st of each year, depending on the evolution of the annual average of consumer prices (excluding tobacco), calculated by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee).
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Elimination of bank charges in three specific cases

The novelty also concerns cases of free access. The big change is notably the elimination of bank charges if a child dies. The costs could sometimes be high in this case before, and it was a double punishment for the family.

Clearly, the inheritance bank charges will be totally removed in the following three situations :

when the savings accounts and products in question were held by a nobody minor ;
when the total balance of the deceased’s savings accounts and products is less than 5,910€ (this amount will be revised every year, depending on changes in the annual average of consumer prices excluding tobacco);
when the heirs present to the bank a certificate of notoriety or a certificate signed by all of them, and that the operations linked to the succession do not demonstrate obvious complexity.

Who does not benefit from the elimination of fees?

But not everyone will benefit from the elimination of these bank charges. The decree published in Official Journal of August 14th, 2025 specifies that an inheritance presents obvious complexity when:

the deceased has no direct heirs (spouse, child, grandchild, father, mother, brother or sister or a descendant of the latter, etc.) ;
a real estate loan contract taken out by the deceased is in progress within the banking establishment;
one or more accounts to be closed held by the deceased within the banking establishment are of a professional nature;
one or more collateral is present on one or more of the accounts or savings products to be closed held by the deceased within the banking establishment (for example if the pledge system has been set up on one of the accounts – in the framework of a debt, this mechanism allows the debtor to continue to use his account and make deposits and withdrawals, and it is up to the creditor to be paid directly to the pledged account in the event of default by the debtor, without having to initiate legal proceedings);
operations linked to inheritance include one or more foreign elements (for example, the tax domicile or usual place of residence of the deceased or one of the heirs is located abroad, or the total application or partial of a foreign law is necessary for the purposes of settling the inheritance).

In the cases cited just above, therefore, the elimination of bank charges does not apply.