Banks and insurance companies are obliged to provide each co-heir with comprehensive information about the deceased's business relationship. For example, the bank must state,
- which business relationships, in particular which current, savings, loan and/or securities accounts and other accounts of the deceased, including joint accounts and sub-accounts, if applicable, exist or existed with you and were closed during his or her lifetime;
- whether a safe deposit box is or was maintained in the name of the deceased;
- the account balances and the values of any securities accounts at the time of death;
- which standing orders existed at the time of death and still exist;
- whether and, if so, to whom the testator has granted powers of attorney in the last ten years;
- whether contracts in favour of third parties exist in the event of death;
- whether guarantee obligations exist;
- Authorisations of third parties, in particular in the form of powers of attorney, even if they have already been revoked during your lifetime.
The obligation to provide information arises from Section 666 BGB in conjunction with Section 675 (1) and Section 1922 BGB. Pursuant to Section 2039 BGB, an individual co-heir can also assert the joint right to information alone. The right to information does not only relate to querying current account balances, but also extends to account-related transactions from the past. The right to information also exists if it concerns transactions about which you have already informed your customer (see BGH judgement of 30.01.2001, XI ZR 183/00).