What happens the moment the bank has notice
Once a branch knows the depositor has died — a death certificate presented at the counter, a returned pension credit, a call from a relative — the account is flagged and ordinary access stops. A co-signatory who has been signing cheques for a decade is refused along with everyone else. This is not the branch being difficult. On death the balance stops being the depositor's money and becomes part of an estate, and the bank will pay it out only to people who can document that they are the ones entitled to receive it. Nothing you say at the counter changes that; what changes it is a settled estate.
What banks typically require
There is no single published counter-checklist that binds every bank. Requirements are set by each bank's own compliance department, which is why two branches of the same institution can hand you different lists. Framed descriptively — what we commonly see asked for — the folder usually contains:
- The PSA death certificate, and often a bank certification of the balance as of the date of death, which the estate tax return needs anyway.
- Tax identification numbers for the estate and for the heirs, and the filed estate tax return.
- The BIR clearance covering the deposit — commonly the electronic Certificate Authorizing Registration (eCAR) or its equivalent. In our experience this is the item that decides whether the file moves at all.
- Proof of heirship: the registered and published deed of extrajudicial settlement, or a sole heir's affidavit of self-adjudication, or in a court-supervised estate, the letters and the court order authorising the withdrawal.
- Identification and specimen signatures of every heir, plus a special power of attorney for anyone signing from abroad.
- The bank's own forms — release, undertaking or indemnity, occasionally a bond.
The withdrawal route banks sometimes describe
Ask the branch and you may be told there is a way to withdraw from the account before the eCAR issues, with the bank deducting a final withholding tax on the amount released and reporting it to the BIR. We describe that route only as practice, and we do not state a rate, a ceiling or a set of conditions on this page. Those are fixed by BIR issuances and by each bank's reading of them, they have changed more than once, and they turn on the date of death that applies to your parent. Confirm them with the bank holding the account and with counsel before relying on them — and note that using such a route does not, by itself, dispose of the estate tax return. The tax side of the file is set out on our page on estate tax and the eCAR.
Signing from abroad
Heirs in Dubai, Toronto and Cebu do not need to be in the same room, or in the country. The ordinary arrangement is a special power of attorney from each heir abroad in favour of one attorney-in-fact, executed before a Philippine consulate or notarized locally and apostilled where that is available. No Supreme Court decision fixes these mechanics — they are execution-side practice, not doctrine, and we say so plainly. What matters in a bank file is drafting: the powers must name the bank, the account and the acts to be done, because a general SPA is exactly the document a compliance officer returns. See settling from abroad and, for how we work with clients in other time zones, international clients.
The one-heir shortcut, and the risk inside it
Where the estate really does have a single heir, Rule 74, Section 1 of the Rules of Court offers a short road:
If there is only one heir, he may adjudicate to himself the entire estate by means of an affidavit filed in the office of the register of deeds.
Banks accept that affidavit. Sign it only when you are sure. In Cayetano v. Leonidas (G.R. No. L-54919, May 30, 1984, First Division) the sole compulsory heir adjudicated the whole estate to himself under that very provision, and eleven months later a will his daughter had executed under Pennsylvania law — already probated in Philadelphia — was brought to a Philippine court for reprobate. The same section carries the warning that applies to every family with a relative who was left out of the conversation:
no extrajudicial settlement shall be binding upon any person who has not participated therein or had no notice thereof.
If a will exists anywhere, the account waits for the court. That road is on our foreign wills page.
A workable order of operations
Most bank releases stall because the steps are attempted in the wrong order. What usually works: obtain the PSA death certificate and the bank certification of the balance as of the date of death; settle who the heirs are and document it, by deed or through the court route; collect the SPAs from everyone abroad; file the estate tax return and pay; obtain the eCAR; then present the complete file to the bank. Deposits are often the smallest asset in the estate and the first one the family needs, which is the argument for starting the tax file early rather than for skipping it.
Frequently asked questions
Why did the bank freeze my father's account?
Because the money stopped being his the moment he died and became part of his estate. Banks in our experience flag the account once they have notice of the death, and release it only to people who can document that they are entitled to receive it. That is a question of estate settlement, not of persuading the branch.
Do the heirs need a BIR clearance before the bank will release the deposit?
In practice, yes. Banks commonly ask for the estate tax return and the electronic Certificate Authorizing Registration, or an equivalent BIR clearance covering the deposit, before releasing the balance. The precise documents, and any withdrawal route offered before the eCAR issues, are set by BIR issuances and each bank's own compliance rules, so confirm both with the bank that holds the account.
I am the only heir. Can I just sign an affidavit?
Rule 74, Section 1 provides that if there is only one heir, he may adjudicate to himself the entire estate by means of an affidavit filed in the office of the register of deeds, and banks do accept that route. Sign it only if you are certain there is no will and no other heir. In Cayetano v. Leonidas the sole compulsory heir self-adjudicated and a will probated in Pennsylvania surfaced eleven months later.
I cannot fly to the Philippines. Can someone process the release for me?
Yes. Heirs abroad ordinarily sign a special power of attorney naming one attorney-in-fact to sign the settlement documents, deal with the BIR and present the papers to the bank. The instrument is executed before a Philippine consulate, or notarized abroad and apostilled where that is available. Banks read the wording closely, so the powers granted should name the bank and the account.