Access a Deceased Person's Bank Account in China — Rules for Overseas Deaths

The Bank Freezes the Account the Moment Death Is Reported

When a Chinese citizen dies — whether domestically or overseas — Chinese commercial banks such as Bank of China, ICBC, CCB, and ABC are required to freeze accounts held solely in the deceased's name once the death is officially recorded. Surviving family members cannot simply walk in with the deceased's bank card and PIN to withdraw funds. The account becomes part of the estate, and accessing it requires a formal legal process.

The pathway depends on how much money is in the account.

Accounts Under 50,000 RMB: The Simplified Threshold

Under joint regulations from the NFRA (National Financial Regulatory Administration) and the People's Bank of China effective June 1, 2024, first-order heirs can bypass the full notarial inheritance process if the total balance at a single financial institution is 50,000 RMB or less (roughly $7,000 USD), excluding accrued interest.

First-order heirs under Chinese law are: surviving spouse, children, and parents.

The simplified extraction requires:

1. The apostilled US death certificate with a certified Chinese translation — the same document package used for Hukou cancellation
2. Proof of relationship — Hukou extract, marriage certificate, or birth certificate showing the applicant's kinship to the deceased
3. The applicant's valid government-issued ID
4. A signed letter of commitment executed at the bank counter — the applicant assumes civil liability for any subsequent disputes among heirs

No notary certificate, no court order, no consensus from other heirs. The bank processes the withdrawal directly.

Two important details: government-disbursed death benefits, funeral allowances, and pension payments deposited after death are excluded from the 50,000 RMB calculation. These can be extracted in full alongside the simplified withdrawal. And the threshold applies per institution — if the deceased had 40,000 RMB at Bank of China and 30,000 RMB at ICBC, the simplified process applies at both, because each is under the limit individually.

Rural small-and-medium financial institutions have until December 31, 2025 to fully implement this simplified threshold. Urban commercial banks and the big four are already operating under it.

Accounts Over 50,000 RMB: Notarial Inheritance

When the deceased's balance at any single institution exceeds 50,000 RMB — or when the estate includes real estate, securities, or other registered assets — the simplified process does not apply. Heirs must go through standard Notarial Inheritance (公证继承).

This requires:

1. Identification of all first-order heirs — the notary office needs proof of every surviving spouse, child, and parent. If a parent is deceased, proof of their death is required too. For older expatriates whose parents died decades ago in rural China, finding these records can be difficult — notaries sometimes accept historical personnel files (人事档案) or gravestone photographs as alternative evidence.

2. Unanimous consent on distribution — all first-order heirs must agree on how the assets are divided. If any heir objects, the case goes to court.

3. Inheritance Right Certificate (继承权公证书) — issued by a Chinese notary office once all documentation is verified and all heirs consent. This is the document the bank needs to release the funds.

The US-Based Heir Problem

When an heir lives in the United States and cannot travel to China to appear at the notary office in person, they must execute two documents:

• Inheritance Power of Attorney (遗产继承委托书) — authorizing a relative or attorney in China to act on their behalf in the notarial process
• Waiver of Inheritance (放弃继承声明书) — if they choose to forfeit their share to simplify the proceedings

Both documents must be signed before a US notary public, apostilled by the Secretary of State in the signing state, and translated into Chinese before the Chinese notary office will accept them. This adds 2–4 weeks to the process.

Digital Wallet Balances: WeChat Pay and Alipay

The deceased may also have balances in WeChat Pay or Alipay. These digital wallets are tied to the person's real-name identity (national ID number). Once the Hukou is cancelled and the identity card deactivated, the wallets face automatic security restrictions.

Recovery is possible but requires a separate process: contact each platform's estate or account closure division, submit the apostilled death certificate, proof of kinship, and the platform's specific account closure forms. Balances are transferred to a designated heir's account. This process is platform-specific and typically takes 2–4 weeks.

The Chinese Dies in the US — Family Emergency Guide covers both simplified and notarial inheritance paths, includes the specific forms each major bank requires, and walks through the WeChat Pay and Alipay recovery processes step by step — with a document tracker so you can manage multiple bank submissions in parallel.