138 euros to close the booklet A of a child who died of cancer at the age of 8. The latest controversy over inheritance costs has just led La Banque Postale to review its pricing policy. It indicates MoneyVox having decided to remove the inheritance fees deducted from the accounts of minors who have died since June 1.
This is an advertisement that La Banque Postale would have done without. Last month, Eva pour la vie, an association that supports families of child cancer victims, announced on Twitter that La Banque Postale had taken 138.20 euros to close the Livret A of an 8-year-old child, who died in 2021. Following the controversy, La Banque Postale finally decided to reimburse the fees received by the family.
But La Banque Postale does not stop there. She explains to MoneyVox that since June 1, it has abolished inheritance fees deducted from the accounts of deceased minors. A first victory for the association Eva pour la vie. She launched an online petitionsigned by more than 26,000 Internet users, which asks the government toprohibit bank charges following the closure of the account of a deceased child. 2500 families are affected each year in France. It would therefore not endanger the banks to force them to waive the invoicing of such immoral fees, pleads Corinne Vedrenne.
Economy minister urges banks to act
Will the president of the association win her case? It is not impossible. Questioned by MoneyVox, the Minister of the Economy indicates that he has just asked the banks to a big, big effort on the question of inheritance costs. Inheritance costs are a very irritating subject for the French, and all the more so when it comes to the death of a child, points out Bercy, which does not rule out legislating on the question on the occasion of the 2023 finance bill which will be considered in Parliament this fall. We are waiting for proposalsconcrete, operational and fast banks otherwise we will have to go through the law, warns Bercy.
For its part, La Banque Postale explains that it has already simplified inheritance costs since the beginning of the year. In addition to the abolition of fees deducted from the accounts of minors as of June, it applies the free of inheritance costs for assets below 500 euros. From now on, the inheritance fees required vary from 0 to 500 euros depending on the amount of assets held.
The French no longer want inheritance fees
According to a survey carried out by YouGov, for MoneyVox, 80% of French people demand a capping of these fees and 85% say they are in favor of their prohibition. According to a study released at the end of 2021 by UFC-Que Choisir, inheritance costs bring in 150 million euros per year for banks, i.e. 28% more than in 2012. They rise 233 euros on average. In this context, the consumer association castigates the gold price billings on the dead savings.
The bank rates linked to the inheritance are proportionate to the amount of the assets and are therefore lower for inheritances small amounts, even though the actions carried out by the banks are numerous and complex. These costs cover not only the processing of the deceased’s assets (deposit account, savings products, life insurance, etc.), means of payment, current invoices, but also the necessary interventions, depending on the degree of complexity of the estate (example: number of beneficiaries, divorces, blended families, etc …) and do not correspond to a simple closing of an account, explains for its part the French Banking Federation (FBF).
Inheritance fees: 85% of French people want to ban them, Bercy demands a big effort from banks