The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has advised the public to carefully choose their next of kin, emphasizing the necessity of selecting someone who is not only legally of age but also capable of giving critical information on the account holder when needed.
This advise is in reaction to what the Central Bank characterizes as a prevalent misperception that the person designated as the next of kin automatically gets the account holder’s funds upon their death.
In a notification issued by BoG’s Secretary, Sandra Thompson, the Bank underlined that the identified next of kin must follow specific legal processes before accessing money in a dead person’s account.
These processes involve submitting a death certificate, letters of administration, or letters of probate.
Read Also: Teacher unions threaten industrial peace over pension arrears, laptops
Individuals who die without a Will may designate administrators of their estate using Letters of Administration (L.A.), which are issued by a court and provide access to the dead customer’s account.
“To inherit or have access to the account of a deceased customer, one will have to be named in the deceased customer’s Will as a beneficiary of the account, and a court of competent jurisdiction will have to grant Letters of Probate to empower the person who has been named in the Will as a beneficiary, to obtain access to the deceased customer’s account.
“Administrators of the estate of a person who dies intestate can be appointed through Letters of Administration (L.A.) issued by a court of competent jurisdiction, which grants access to a deceased customer’s account.
“Based on this understanding, it is important to choose a Next of Kin who is capable of providing relevant information about you, when the need arises. As much as possible we encourage the choice of Next-of-Kins to be of legal age,” part of the statement read.
