hello, my deceased brother (non-Swiss and non-EU citizen nor has resided in Switzerland) had a joint bank account with his wife and I have discovered recently that this joint account has been closed by his wife and has possibly opened an individual account in that same bank transferring the assets from the joint account to her individual account.
I understand that heirs have the right not only to access information about the deceased account holder, but also to claim their rights.
The fact that the heirs of the co-holder do not succeed the deceased in the contractual relationship with the bank does not mean that the assets in the joint account do not materially belong to the estate.
Can you please advise me what steps should I be taken to claim my right as a heir as well for my sisters (also heirs)? knowing that the joint bank account has been closed.
FWIW (and maybe nothing if there is no connection to Switzerland other than the account), the OP and siblings have no right under Swiss law to part of the estate and are therefore not heirs unless specifically named in the will.
I don't believe, that as a sibling, you have any legal entitlement under Swiss law. So IF Swiss law applied, you'd get nothing and the wife (and children if any) is entitled to the money.
Further, in the event of the bank knowing of the death, they will not release the account to the surviving heir until it can be shown she is entitled to receive it.
the deceased does not have children and we (myself and sisters) are the legal heirs following a tribunal ruling in my country (not Switzerland and outside EU), hence under what is called "dévolution successorale"
Also his wife (co-holder) is not Swiss nor has lived in Switzerland. in summary they have no relation to Switzerland other than the bank account, does that mean that the inheritance law in my country is the one that applies?
If the court has ruled in your favour then you need a Swiss lawyer to present this finding to a Swiss judge to force the bank to divulge details of the account. This is the only way. It's unlikely the bank would object buy it's possible the wife will and then it enters a legal battle.
Your other problem is if the wife finds out what you are doing, she may move the money elsewhere and then you'd have to take the fight to that jurisdiction.
Have you tried speaking to her for an amicable resolution, or is that not possible?
Thanks Tom. The joint account was closed 3 months after my brother's death and there was still money in the account and a couple of investments (where there is return). we believe that the money got transferred to an individual account in her name, at the same bank.
Thanks LuganoPirate. We haven't got into a legal procedure yet at the court, we have asked for information on the account and we have received some from the bank.
The question is now that the bank knows that heirs are inquiring about their brother's account, can they still allow for the wife to move money from that same bank if she has an individual account in it (while knowing that the money from the joint account has been transferred to her individual account following the death of my brother)?
Yes, because as far as they know, the wife legally has the money, because the wife was somehow legally able to claim the funds in the joint account. Is it possible that there may be parallel legal procedures going on between Switzerland and ‘home country’ and that each country is unaware of what is going on in the other? What you need to do is to get into a legal procedure as soon as possible; only the courts will be able to stop a transfer and freeze assets until the issue is resolved.
Am I missing something here? If the money/investments were held legally in a joint account between a husband and wife, when 1 party dies (without issue) does the capital not revert to the survining spouse as a jointly held asset?