Recovering Money from a Philippine Joint Savings Account when one Dies

Requirements given to the living joint account holder based abroad (Pesos Series #3)

My friend warned me not to open a joint passbook account in the Philippines. She knew married couples with joint accounts that cannot be accessed by the widow when one of them died. Too late. My brother and I opened one to manage the finances of mom years ago. Then my brother died. After three years, I am still going back and forth with different people asking me to additional paperwork. In this post, I will share the lessons I learned when trying to recover money from a joint passbook account when a co-depositor dies.

1 - Joint Accounts cannot be easily converted

My brother died in the Philippines just before the worldwide quarantine. I am based in the USA so I was not able to travel there for more than a year. I foolishly assumed that I can easily convert our joint savings into a solo account which I will be able to use to receive monetary benefits as his heir. Wrong! They demanded a lot of paperwork from me which I gave them through my representatives. Worse, it changed from manager to manager.

2 - Provincial Bank Managers are often Re-assigned and do not get the last say

I communicated with numerous bank managers while trying to convert the joint account. One manager told me that I need to personally appear in any of their branches. I told them their nearest branch is in New York City. He agreed to open a bank account for me in their provincial branch as long as I show up in person in NYC. I did go to NYC, trusting his words. That bank manager was reassigned and the paperwork I finished through their NYC branch went back and forth through mail. They gave me different reasons and more requirements. In the end, I just decided to go to the Philippines and show up in person to open a peso account in another bank.

3 - Paperwork does not match "reward" of getting the money

Now I know why widows and other living co-depositors do not claim the money left in their joint account: it is not worth it. I pursued it because I needed to open a peso account. Still, when I was in the Philippines, I looked at the requirements to claim the money. I saw that I have most of the paperwork so I tried again while I was in the area. Well, they added one more requirement: an heir bond. I found a cheaper one and it required:

• Duly Signed Bond Application form with 2 Valid ID and ITR

• Latest Bank Statement  of the deceased depositor

• Extrajudicial Settlement of estate

• Death Certificate

• Birth Certificate

• Affidavit of Publication

• Proof of filiation ( marriage cert, birth cert of children etc)

I have everything except for ITR - Income Tax Return filed in the Philippines. I told them I cannot give this because I live and work in another country. They stopped communicating with me. I almost gave up dealing with the bank because the money I will recover is not worth it. Now I know why widows just give up; they will pay more in time, money and resources while trying to recover money from their joint account.

4 - The Law is on Your Side

Nevertheless, I found out that the Philippine Supreme Court rule is favorable to me. In the matter of Intestate Estate of Rodriguez vs Rodriguez (GR No. 230404) it was ruled that the surviving co-depositor can withdraw the entire deposit. Google it and read it for yourself. I hope, my dear readers, that you will learn from my experience with recovering money from a Peso Passbook Joint Account. Share this to others who might need this information. Next week I will share my experiences in trying to open a Peso bank account from abroad.