The governing coalition of the Christian Democratic CDU/CSU and Social Democratic Party SPD has turned its attention to the so-called dormant accounts of Germans: these are residential checking accounts on which there has been no activity for years, because the owners have passed away and the heirs have not come forward, or they have simply forgotten about the money parked in the bank.
Inactive accounts are estimated to be nationwide two and nine billion euros (761 thousand-3426 thousand billion forints) financial institutions can store an amount between
They make public the sums lying in wasteland
Table of Contents
The idea caused astonishment among the citizens, as accounts whose owners are still alive are also included in this category, i.e. there are no death certificates or other documents at the banks, which would accurately clarify the fate of the millions of euros that have been untouched for at least 15 years.
However, in the coalition agreement last year, it was stipulated that these “forgotten” funds are a into the state social investment fund must be transferred. Legal preparations are already underway, based on which a central digital register will first be created. From this, anyone can find out that they may be entitled to a private asset, which they can access before the state lays its hands on it, according to Ruhr24’s report.
The banks are already rebelling, they wouldn’t give away the property
A German Banking Association sharply criticizes the government’s plans, legal and moral concerns are mentioned.
According to them, there is no guideline for how many years an account is considered inactive, although the model is already used in the UK. In addition, the violation of property rights considered if money is also taken from people who are still alive, but for example they left the documents, or they were not found as heirs in the probate process.
In addition, according to the current rules, after 30 years, the untouched sums belong to the bank, although if the rightful person emerges only at the last moment, they still have to pay him. But the government would put the state social fund in place before then, so the time limit is expected to be between 15 and 30 years.
Many people get rich as heirs
We wrote: annually, approximately annually 154 thousand billion HUF inherited property changes hands in Germany – the gigantic sum could be enough for the entire state operation of our country, for about four years. According to surveys, most people inherit cash or valuable objects, art treasures, home furnishings, books, real estate and companies.
According to the calculations of the German Economic Research Institute (DIW), about half of all inheritances go to the richest ten percent of heirs – they receive an average of 85,000 euros (~32.3 million forints). But a more realistic number is 32,000 euros per person (~12.2 million forints), since large assets significantly distort the average.
In addition to money, many people also inherit art treasures, real estate, and businesses
Most people trust their luck
Another, recent survey found that while the majority of the population considers a profit of one million euros (~380.6 million forints) an unattainable dream, reaching a fortune of 500,000 euros is a more realistic goal.
For comparison: in recent years, the richest group of German households had reserves of at least 777,000 euros (~296 million forints). In comparison, all private households median net worth is approximately EUR 103,000 (~HUF 39 million) volt.
According to research by Postbank and YouGov, people in our main Western partner prefer luck, and there are fewer people who would achieve greater profits with a conscious financial strategy. According to this, every fifth German considers the lottery prize the most likely, nearly twelve percent expect a generous inheritance. Nine percent of the population, on the other hand, believe that they can get ahead by investing in shares or funds – this ratio is 20 percent among securities owners.
