Access to accounts in case of the worst

#1

Haven’t posted in a year, since I moved to the UK, glad to come back and see the community is flourishing!

Having just arranged life insurance, it made me have a good long think about ‘the worst case scenario’, and I have a question for the BNZ staff out there.

In the event that a customer sadly passes away and does not have a will, how/can family members access bank accounts? Is it possible to nominate a next of kin for your bank account?

I am in the process of creating a will and so am listing my assets, was just curious as to how my family might access those assets in the worst case scenario. I have YouMoney accounts and Kiwisaver with BNZ, if that helps.

#2

I’d think they’d have to get lawyers involved because of no will but how it’s determined as to who gets what, I wouldn’t be too sure of.
Would be nice to know the answer here though

#3

Welcome back, @RC1! Have missed seeing you around, hope the UK is treating you well :blush:

With regards to deceased estates there are different processes depending on whether there is lending involved, and there can also be lots of different scenarios and exceptions. In short, you can’t nominate a next of kin against the bank account itself, but if you have a will the executor of the will is able to work with us and a solicitor to gain access to your funds.

Accounts are always frozen at date of death and there’s a legal process that needs to be followed which differs depending on how much money is involved.

Info on different processes based on value of the estate and estates with/without wills here: https://www.bnz.co.nz/support/banking/managing-a-deceased-estate

If the deceased had a joint account then all funds in the account automatically go to the survivor of the account.

Hope that clarifies it a little bit? Having a will is a good start! :+1:

#4

If there is no will and it goes to probate - even if all parties agree making it a straight forward probate as happened with my late father - it still takes 2 years.