Nominee or heir, who will get the money of the deceased

The final settlement of several cases pending in the High Court regarding whether the nominee will receive the money deposited in the deceased's bank account or the heir has not been finalized for a long time. It has been alleged that many people are being harassed because of the contradiction between the High Court's verdict and Bangladesh Bank's notification.

As per the Bank Companies Act, 1991 (amended till 2018), the nominee will receive the accumulated amount on the death of the account holder or depositor. However, the High Court disagreed in a judgment in 2016 regarding the nomination of savings certificates. The ruling said that if the account holder of the savings account dies, the heir will get the money instead of the nominee. Due to the dual decision of the High Court and Bangladesh Bank, complications arise. The matter is still pending in the Supreme Court. Although several such cases are pending in the High Court, the exact number is not known.

In this regard, the concerned lawyers say, legally, if the bank account holder or depositor dies, the nominee will receive his collected money, this is the custom.
Eight years ago, the High Court judgment also said that the nominee would be a trustee. As per inheritance law, the nominee will withdraw the money and distribute it equally among the heirs.

However, if there is a problem with this, the notification issued by Bangladesh Bank says that the money in the account should be handed over to the nominee. However, it does not say anything about the ownership of that money. Later, when the full judgment of the High Court was published, the defendant filed an appeal (leave to appeal) against it. It has not been heard so far.

Senior lawyer MI Faruqi and lawyer Nazneen Nahar were the plaintiffs in that case. Nazneen Nahar said that there are many problems due to the verdict not being settled in the Appellate Division. Decisions are being made deliberately somewhere. Many people are being harassed in various ways. It is very important that the judgment in the Supreme Court be disposed of quickly in public interest. Common people will get rid of it.

In this regard, Attorney General AM Amin Uddin said that two benches have been constituted in the Appellate Division. Hopefully, as a result of this, the accumulated old cases will be settled gradually.

Nominee's name must be mentioned compulsorily while opening bank account. Accumulated funds are nominated to facilitate withdrawal from the bank in the absence or death of the depositor. This nominee can be a family member, close relative, wife, husband, sibling or anyone trusted. There are allegations, many times the nominee deprives the heirs and embezzles the deceased's money or valuables from the bank.

An official of a private bank said that they have been in crisis for a long time. They are waiting for the final decision of the Supreme Court.