The Bank of Spain alerts Spaniards who have an account inactive for more than 20 years. According to the provisions of the Law on the Heritage of Public Administrations, the State may keep the money of those who movements and necessary maintenance have not been carried out to prevent the banking entity from considering it abandoned. Therefore, it is advisable to make movements in both payroll and savings accounts.
This situation affects both those who have not used the money in an account for two decades and those who have died without known heirs. However, before the money passes into the hands of the State, it must follow a series of procedures to confirm that it is a forgotten balance.
As established in the article 18 of Law 33//2003 on the Assets of Public Administrations, both the money and real estate that have been deposited in the General Deposit Fund and financial entities may become property of the General Administration of the State in the event that “no management has been carried out by the interested parties that involves the exercise of your property right within twenty years“.
The bank must notify the owner or his heirs three months in advance
This includes the balance found in checking accounts, “savings books or other similar open instruments in these establishments”. However, it is necessary for the specified period to pass so that it can be established that said money has been forgotten by its rightful owner. Once 20 years have passed, the State may begin the procedures to exercise its right to keep the amount.
To do this, it will be necessary for the banking entity notify the account holder or his or her heirs three months before that the deadline is going to be met. As explained by the Bank of Spain on its website, in the event that a response is not received from them, or they do not present a claim, the money will be transferred to the Public Treasury. The objective of this verification is to avoid cases of money laundering or tax fraud, as well as money being lost.
However, the Administration You will not be able to invest that money as you pleasebut must be used “to finance programs aimed at promoting the improvement of educational conditions for people with disabilitiesas well as to extend the universal accessibility of environments, goods, services and processes.” While in the case of assets, it will be the General Directorate of State Heritage who may dispose of them depending on the nature of the asset.
What to do to prevent an account from being considered abandoned?
If you have an unused bank account, but with money deposited, and you want to avoid this procedure, it is necessary carry out some movement or management in itat least once every 20 years. With this simple gesture, the entity will understand that, although it is not used regularly, that deposit is not forgotten and has an owner who continues to manage his accounts. Likewise, it is also important to keep the data updated to be aware of the bank’s notifications.
In case you want cancel an accountit is not enough to leave it without money, as the Bank of Spain warns, but it will be necessary make a formal procedure. This is completely free as long as the contract is of indefinite duration or the established deadlines have been exceeded.
You only need to verify that the balance is not negative and there are no pending payments. cancel direct debit paymentstransfer the money left in it and inform the entity. This last step can be done either of both in person and electronicallyif the bank allows it.