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Look up accounts of deceased person

Febelfin can assist you in locating bank accounts of deceased individuals.

When someone passes away, as an heir, you don't always know where the deceased had a bank account or securities, or which bank they rented a safe deposit box from. The Bankresearch service of Febelfin can help you find this information from its member banks.

 

Important: The information below is focused on the heirs of the deceased. If you are a notary, curator, lawyer, or OCMW, please check here.

 

What can you use the Bankresearch service for?

Through a bank investigation, you can have it checked whether someone was a customer of one or more banks during a period of 3 years before their death or before the commencement of provisional guardianship.

You can use the Bankresearch service in the following cases:

 
  • When you are the heir of a deceased person. You can make the request alone or together with other heirs.
  • When you suspect that someone has opened an account in your name.

In the case of a death, you can also have the request made by a notary, curator (in the case of an unattended estate), or a lawyer.

OCMWs (Public Social Welfare Centers) can request an investigation for the elderly, aid applicants, etc.

What Bankresearch does not do

Bankresearch does not handle requests related to divorce (unless there is an explicit court order to search for bank assets), moral investigations, bankruptcy, or fraud cases.

This service also does not search for (life) insurance contracts.

 

What information does Bankresearch need?

Bankresearch needs information about both you and the person you want to have investigated. Below, we summarize the information/documents you need to have on hand.

Investigation in case of death In the case of a death investigation, you will need the following data or documents:
  • Your mailing address
  • Your email address
  • A copy of the front and back of your ID card
  • Certificate of inheritance or certificate of acknowledgment or certificate of inheritance rights
  • Name and surname of the deceased
  • Address of the deceased
  • Place of birth and date of birth of the deceased
  • Any information that makes the search more efficient: marital status, national registry number, etc.
  • Place and date of death
  • A copy of the official death certificate
Self-initiated investigation If you want to look up certain things for yourself, you will need the following data or documents:
  • Your mailing address
  • Your email address
  • Your place of birth and date of birth
  • A copy of the front and back of your ID card
Investigation in the case of preliminary guardianship In the case of a preliminary guardianship investigation (for individuals), you will need the following data and documents:
  • Your mailing address
  • Your email address
  • Your place of birth and date of birth
  • A copy of the front and back of your ID card
  • Your mailing address
  • Your email address
  • Name and first name of the person to be protected
  • Address of the person to be protected
  • Place of birth and date of birth of the person to be protected
  • Any other information that can make the search more efficient (marital status, national registry number, etc.)
  • Copy of the full court decision appointing the temporary guardian
 

How does my request proceed?

  • You provide all the necessary information and documents to the Bankresearch service via email: bankresearch@febelfin.be or by post: Bankresearch, Koning Albert II-laan 19, 1210 Brussels.
  • Bankresearch processes your request and verifies its completeness.
  • You will receive a confirmation of receipt with a request to transfer 151.25 euros (125 euros + 21% VAT).
  • Once we receive the payment, we will forward your request to our member banks on the next Thursday.
  • Our members will process your request within 15 working days, starting from the day Febelfin sends the request to them.
  • If you receive a response from one or more of our member banks, it will confirm that there is/was a relationship between "bank X and customer Y." You will also find the contact information of the person or department to contact for more information.
  • If you do not receive a response from our member banks within 15 working days, you can assume that the answer is negative.
 

How do I contact Bankresearch?

 
Terms and Conditions Terms and Conditions of Bankresearch

Bankresearch attempts to forward the request to a maximum number of its members but cannot guarantee that all members will actually receive the request.

Febelfin does not have access to the requested information or the way in which the banks handle the request.

Febelfin cannot be held liable for the further processing of the bank investigation request by the respective banks.

The cost of 151.25 euros only covers the processing by Febelfin and the response regarding whether or not someone had a customer relationship with a bank. The costs do not cover additional inquiries, such as questions about account balances and histories. Banks may charge additional fees for these.

When you request a bank investigation, Febelfin will process your personal data and the personal data of the person mentioned in the request in accordance with the procedure described above.

Your personal data will not be retained longer than necessary for the intended purposes of processing. Our privacy statement provides more information on our processing of personal data and how to exercise your rights.

According to privacy protection legislation, the responses from the member banks must be sent directly to the requester. Febelfin does not receive information from its members.

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