Unblocking a deceased person's account at a Spanish bank: what documents are required and how long it takes

This is one of the calls I receive most often at my office in Calp, and almost always with the same distress in the voice. A father, a mother, a partner has died, and those left behind go to the bank to sort out the essentials — pay for the funeral, cover a bill — only to find the account is blocked. They cannot withdraw anything. The card does not work. Online banking is shut down. And often it is an account where they themselves are also named as holders. The feeling is one of helplessness, and I understand it completely.

Let me explain it calmly and without jargon, because once you understand what is happening, the anxiety eases. There are two things almost no one expects, and I want them clear from the outset: first, the bank blocking the account is normal and, to some extent, protects you; second, being a joint account holder (cotitular) does not mean half the money is already yours. Let's take it step by step.

Why the bank blocks the account (and what you can still pay for in the meantime)

As soon as the bank learns that the account holder has died, it blocks ordinary transactions: it cancels the cards, shuts down online banking, and stops anyone from moving the money as normal. It does not do this out of spite, nor to keep anything for itself. It does it because, from that moment on, the money no longer belongs to the account holder: it belongs to the estate, and it is not yet known who the heirs are or how it will be divided. The bank protects itself and, at the same time, protects the true heirs from anyone emptying the account ahead of time.

That said, 'blocked' does not mean 'completely frozen'. There are two kinds of payments the bank will usually still cover from the balance, because they are just common sense: the burial or funeral costs — normally paid directly to the funeral home against its invoice — and direct debits already in place that keep the estate's assets in good order, such as the IBI (local property tax), home insurance, or electricity and water bills. What you will not be able to do is freely use the balance for anything else until you prove who you are and have dealt with the tax office (Hacienda).

The joint account myth: being a joint holder is not the same as being the owner

Here is the most common misunderstanding, and I want you to see it crystal clear. Many people believe that, if the account was in both names, half the money is automatically theirs and only the other half is inherited. That is not how it works. Being a joint account holder (cotitular) tells you who CAN SIGN, not who the money BELONGS TO.

Think of it like the keys to a house. Two people having a key does not mean the house belongs half to each of them: it just means both can go in. It is the same with a bank account. If it is an 'indistinct' or 'joint and several' account, any one of the holders can operate the whole balance; if it is a 'mancomunada' account, everyone's signature is needed. But that is only the power to handle the money. Actual ownership depends on who put that money in, and that is a separate question.

What does that mean in practice? That when one of the joint holders dies, the share of the balance that was genuinely theirs becomes part of the estate (caudal hereditario) and must be taxed, even if you can still operate the account. The Banco de España itself says it plainly: holding a joint account does not mean each holder owns half. That is why the bank blocks the account in these cases too: it is not denying that you are a holder, it is separating what is yours from what belongs to the estate.

Here is an example to leave no doubt. A married couple has an indistinct account with a balance of €40,000. One of them dies, and the surviving spouse assumes that €20,000 is 'already theirs' and the other €20,000 is what they inherit. The bank blocks the account, and for tax and distribution purposes the deceased's share becomes part of the estate (if it cannot be proven who each euro belonged to, the law presumes an equal split). The surviving spouse will be free to use their own share and whatever they are entitled to inherit, but only after going through the formalities. Not before, and not by simply asking nicely.

The documents the bank will ask you for

This is the list you will need to gather, with small variations from one bank to another. Don't let it overwhelm you: these documents come together in a logical order, and if you do it right, you won't have to go back twice for the same thing.

• Death certificate. This is the starting point, issued by the Registro Civil (Civil Registry). Nothing else moves without it.
• Certificado de Últimas Voluntades (Certificate of Last Wills). This states whether the deceased left a will, before which notary and when. It is requested using the Modelo 790 and — pay close attention to this — cannot be applied for until 15 business days have passed since the death (not counting Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays).
• Certificate from the Registro de Seguros (death cover insurance registry). It is requested with the same Modelo 790 and reveals whether the deceased held any life insurance policy to be paid out. Many families discover money here they did not know existed.
• The title of succession. If there was a will, the authorised copy of the will. If there was none, a notarial deed declaring the heirs, which today is done before a notary (no longer before a judge).
• The certificate of account positions as of the date of death (certificado de posiciones). This is the 'snapshot' of everything the deceased held at the bank on the day they died (balances, accounts, securities). You need it for the tax return, and you are entitled to request it.
• The deed of acceptance and distribution of the estate. The document in which the heirs accept the estate and allocate the assets among themselves, the account included.
• Proof that the Inheritance Tax (Modelo 650) has been filed and paid, plus the NIE of each heir. Without this, the bank will not release the money. Let me explain why.

Why the bank will not release the money until you pay the tax

Many people get angry with the bank at this point, but the bank is not really to blame: the law imposes this on it. The Inheritance Tax law makes the bank 'secondarily liable' (responsable subsidiario) for payment of the tax. In plain terms: if the bank hands over the estate's money and it later turns out nobody paid Hacienda (the tax office), Hacienda can go after the bank instead. Understandably, no bank wants to risk that, so it will not release the balance until you prove that the tax has been filed and paid (or that it was exempt).

There is a very useful practical detail few people know: even while the account is blocked, the bank can issue a cheque against that balance made out to Hacienda specifically to pay this Inheritance Tax. In other words, the very money that is blocked can be used to pay the tax that unblocks it. It is the chicken-and-egg problem, solved.

And how long do you have to pay that tax? The deadline is six months from the date of death. You can request an extension of a further six months, but you must apply for it within the first five months, not on the last day. My advice, as always: do not let the deadline catch up with you, because filing late means surcharges and interest that eat into part of the estate.

If the estate is international: the extra paperwork (and how to simplify it)

If the deceased was a foreign national, or the heirs live outside Spain, there is an extra layer of formalities. Nothing impossible, but it helps to know about it so there are no surprises. And, above all, there is one tool that makes life much easier.

That tool is the Certificado Sucesorio Europeo (European Certificate of Succession). It is a document designed precisely for this: it certifies who the heir is with effect across the whole European Union, without having to explain another country's succession rules to a Spanish bank. A bank that pays out in good faith to whoever appears on that certificate is protected, so institutions accept it readily. If the estate is governed by the law of another EU State, this is almost always the cleanest route.

With foreign documents (a death certificate or a will made abroad), the general rule is that they need the Hague Apostille and a sworn translation into Spanish. But there are shortcuts: between European Union countries, death certificates can be issued in a standard multilingual format that avoids the apostille and, with that form, the translation as well. Before commissioning translations of everything, it is worth checking which shortcut applies to your case, because it can save you time and money.

And a point that matters a great deal to non-residents: a non-resident's Inheritance Tax is dealt with by the national tax agency (the AEAT), but that does not condemn you to the national scale of rates. You are entitled to apply the rules of the autonomous region with which there is a connecting point — for example, if most of the assets are in the Comunitat Valenciana — and so benefit from its tax reliefs. This also applies to heirs from outside the EU, including British nationals after Brexit. Handled correctly, this is one of those things that can change the final bill considerably.

Your rights against the bank

The account being blocked does not mean you are at the bank's mercy. You have rights, and the Banco de España has made them clear. It is worth knowing them, because sometimes you need to remind the bank of them yourself.

What you should have tied down

Unblocking a loved one's account should not add distress to a moment that is already hard enough. Most of these formalities are orderly and predictable once you know the sequence and who asks you for what. If you have an account or assets in Spain and don't know where to start, write to me and we'll look at it together: first I understand your case, then I explain the steps and their deadlines, and only then do we act. That is how I work, and for matters like this, it makes all the difference.