Notaries miffed at ‘nightmarish’ delays in BOV succession processing

The weeks following the death of a loved one is fraught with emotion, confusion and grief, as the survivors of the bereaved try to adjust to a new reality and make arrangements to have their spouse’s, parent’s, sibling’s or relative’s belongings and accounts released to them.

But MaltaToday has learned that Bank of Valletta seems to be dragging out the approval process for the release of a deceased relative’s accounts to the heirs, so much so that what used to take a maximum of six weeks is now taking anywhere up to nine months.

Several notaries have approached MaltaToday to complain of this state of affairs at the succession department at BOV, which they agree has been taking place since early 2015, and which is causing a lot of problems for many clients.

Other banks – HSBC, APS, Banif and Lombard Bank – still complete the verification process within a maximum of six weeks, and usually closer to four, they confirmed.

On notification of the death of a person, BOV – like other banks – moves to block all assets held with the bank in the deceased’s name until the situation is clarified and the rightful heirs identified.

The bank still pays the funeral expenses directly out of available funds, if requested in writing by a notary, or lawyer, on behalf of the heirs.

Upon notification of a death, banks immediately move to block accounts in the sole name of the deceased and those held jointly with others; any cheques issued on a current account will not be honoured if presented after notification of death.

All standing orders and direct debits and credits are terminated and credit and debit cards cancelled; holdings in collective investment schemes, shares and bonds are similarly blocked.

A notary, with a practice in Naxxar, told MaltaToday that this impasse at BoV had been going on since early 2015, when the head of the department retired after serving many years in the position.

“I have been informed that a number of staff within the department also retired soon after, or were transferred to other departments,” the notary told MaltaToday on condition of anonymity. “It seems like the department has yet to find its footing with a new head and while new staff are trained and become proficient in the process.”

Joyce Tabone, manager for media and community relations at BoV, told MaltaToday that the bank had looked into the matter, following our enquiry on the complaints.

She said that some files remained outstanding “for a while” due to incomplete or missing documentation.

“Upon the eventual submission of the relevant documentation, same is then vetted and if all is found to be in order, the file is concluded and the legal ruling is duly issued,” she said.

But notaries contacted by MaltaToday did not agree, and insisted that even simple, run-of-the-mill applications were taking months to process and that the registered delay was definitely not down to missing documentation on their part.

“That department is in total disarray and has been for a couple of years,” one notary said. “It has become a nightmare trying to get a succession approved in a decent timeframe that does not cause our clients further grief and aggravation than they would already be facing. And the situation seems to be getting worse, not better.”

Another notary said he still had outstanding applications from February and April 2016 that were yet to be processed by BoV.

“Imagine if your husband dies and the bank blocks all your accounts for six to nine months because of the community of acquests,” she said. “You end up without money, having to depend on your children if you’re lucky or on third parties for access to funding.”

MaltaToday contacted Notary Joseph Abela, president of the Notarial Council of Malta, and asked him whether the council had taken up the matter with BOV.

Abela said that the Notarial Council strives to increase efficiency in all aspects of the notarial profession.

“Following the initial working document titled ‘Heading for a 2020 paperless registration for transfer of immovable’, issued in August, 2016 and the Symposium held in the Parliament Building, Valletta on 25 October, 2016, the Notarial Council advises that it has now received a supplementary working document, which should form the basis for all the administration in conjunction with the various stakeholders to implement paperless registration of transfer of immovable.”