Three government authorities are moving towards freezing current and investment accounts belonging to deceased persons in Saudi banks and the immediate cancelation of legal authorization previously given to their heirs.
This process comes within an e-government program connecting the ministries of Justice and Health and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA).
An official source at the Ministry of Justice said this project aims to curtail financial fraud and eliminate financial disputes between decedents. The Ministry of Health immediately notifies SAMA about the death and SAMA notifies Saudi banks to freeze accounts of the deceased and halt legal authorization.
The source stated that the project, which electronically links the three government entities, will be implemented within the next six months. He stressed that official bodies should implement such e-linkages and facilitate the implementation of the process in record time.
The source said that the Ministry of Justice initiated coordination with SAMA and the Ministry of Health within the framework of the King Abdullah Project to Develop Judiciary Facility. It is expected that other authorities will sign for the project in the coming period, while the initial agreement between the Ministries of Justice and Health is expected to begin this month.
He pointed out that cooperation between the three government bodies will begin with the Ministry of Health, which notifies SAMA and the Ministry of Justice about the death of a person as soon as the medical team call the time of death.
The information of the deceased is entered into the ministry’s system, which automatically notifies SAMA and the Health Ministry about the death. The Justice Ministry then cancels all legal authorizations issued by the deceased.
SAMA will freeze accounts upon issuance of a notification from the Ministry of Health and prevent any authorized persons from using financial assets inside Saudi banks.
In addition, children of the deceased will be prevented from withdrawing money until the inheritance inventory is settled.
This step comes within the Kingdom’s adoption of the e-government project and the King Abdullah Project to Develop Judiciary Facility. These changes will curb tampering with the rights of the deceased because of the lack of basic information between government authorities.
Govt agencies to freeze bank accounts of deceased
