Withdrawal of Inherited Financial Assets Made Easier... "Improvement in Redundant Document Submission"

Financial Supervisory Service Collaborates with 9 Financial Industry Associations

On the 18th, the Financial Supervisory Service announced that it has collaborated with nine financial industry associations to improve inconveniences experienced during the withdrawal process of inherited financial assets.

Currently, different financial companies require varying documents from heirs, sometimes demanding duplicate or excessive paperwork. For example, although heirs can be verified through the deceased's family relation certificate, some companies additionally request a Jejeokdeungbon (a certificate verifying family relation changes before January 1, 2008, when the Family Register Act was abolished).

Going forward, the required documents for heirs will be standardized by financial companies, focusing on eliminating non-essential paperwork. Jejeokdeungbon will only be requested when verification of heirs is not possible through family relation certificates or similar documents. Death certificates will be required only when the fact or timing of death cannot be confirmed through basic certificates or equivalent documents.

Most financial companies either do not provide information about the documents heirs must submit on their websites or only provide general guidance. This has often caused inconvenience, such as heirs having to visit financial companies multiple times.

In the future, heirs will be able to easily check required documents, application forms, and simplified procedures for small withdrawals through financial companies’ websites. Additionally, training on document submission and related processing procedures will be strengthened to prevent confusion among financial consumers caused by employees’ lack of understanding.

Since 2013, most financial companies have simplified withdrawal procedures for small inherited financial assets to reduce heirs’ inconvenience. However, despite economic growth, the simplified withdrawal limit has mostly remained fixed at a total inherited financial asset amount of “100,000 KRW or less.” From now on, if the total inherited financial assets are “300,000 KRW or less,” withdrawal will be possible upon the request of just one heir.

Furthermore, in all mutual finance sectors, heirs will be able to withdraw inherited deposits by visiting a nearby unit cooperative (within the same sector) other than the one where the deceased opened the account.

These improvements are expected to be implemented in the third quarter of this year after financial companies complete procedural and system updates.

A Financial Supervisory Service official stated, “Standardizing the documents required from heirs and strengthening related guidance will greatly reduce heirs’ inconvenience and confusion. This will enhance financial consumers’ access to financial services and prevent unavoidable withdrawal inconveniences.”