Right of heirs to information from banks

Banks and insurance companies are obliged to provide each co-heir with comprehensive information about the testator's business relationship. Thus the bank must indicate, which business connections, in particular which current, savings, loan and/or securities accounts and other accounts of the deceased, if applicable also joint accounts and sub-accounts exist or have existed with you and were closed during your lifetime whether a safe deposit box is or was maintained in the name of the deceased; the account balances and the value of any securities accounts at the time of death; which standing orders existed and still exist at the time of death; whether and, if applicable, to whom the testator granted powers of attorney in the last ten years; whether contracts in favour of third parties exist at the time of death; whether guarantee obligations exist;
third parties' rights of disposal, especially in the form of powers of attorney, even if they have been revoked during the testator's lifetime.

The obligation to provide information results from § 666 BGB in connection with § 675 paragraph 1 and § 1922 BGB. In accordance with § 2039 BGB, a single heir can also assert the joint right to information alone. The right to information does not only refer to the query of 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 decision of 30.01.2001, XI ZR 183/00).