Germany’s dormant bank accounts hold billions — heirs struggle without a central register

Billions of euros sit untouched in inactive bank and investment accounts across Germany, and heirs often have no idea those assets exist. A 2021 report by the Ministry of Research estimated that more than four billion euros may be held in such accounts — and some estimates put the total as high as nine billion — but individual banks have not published comprehensive figures.

There is no single legal definition in Germany for “inactive” or “forgotten” accounts. In practice these are deposits or securities—shares, bonds and similar assets—on which there has been no activity for many years. Because there is no statutory framework, individual banks are free to decide when to classify an account as inactive and how aggressively to search for owners or heirs. Strict data-protection rules complicate those searches.

Finding these assets after an account holder dies can be difficult, especially when the deceased had several accounts or limited paper records. Information may be stored in email accounts or on old hard drives, and non-traditional assets such as cryptocurrencies or NFTs are even harder to trace.

Calls for a central register

Beatrice Eisenschmidt, a board member of the Berlin Association of German Heir-Seekers, says the most useful measure would be a central registry of inactive accounts to help heirs verify whether a deceased relative had assets. "That is why many heirs decide not to file such claims," Eisenschmidt said.

There have been earlier attempts to create a national register. Nearly a decade ago, Norbert Walter‑Borjans, then finance minister of North Rhine‑Westphalia, estimated roughly two billion euros lay in inactive accounts and called for a registry. The current federal government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz has proposed legislation to set up a publicly searchable online register, but no new regulations have yet been adopted, leaving the future of those funds uncertain.

Other countries handle dormant assets in different ways: the UK moves funds to a reclamation fund after 15 years but allows heirs to claim them indefinitely; Ireland transfers unclaimed balances to the state after a similar period but requires public notice before transfer; in the United States rules vary by state, typically treating accounts as dormant after three to five years; France moves long‑inactive assets to a public deposit fund after ten years and can transfer them to state ownership after a further twenty years; and Switzerland maintains a central database and, after prolonged inactivity, can publish information and ultimately transfer rights to the state if heirs do not come forward.

Photo: press material from the event