Under Russian President Vladimir Putin's Decree No. 801 of November 2, banks must transfer qualifying escheated funds held in deceased account holders' names to a Treasury account within 15 working days of a request from the Federal Agency for State Property Management. An heir later recognized as having accepted an inheritance retains the right to monetary compensation. The rules apply only to assets that legally pass to the state, not to all accounts belonging to people who have died.
The account holder must have died more than five years earlier and have been removed from tax records because of the death. There must also be no open inheritance case in the notarial system and no enforcement documents remaining active after the person’s death in the bailiff service database.
Russia's Federal Agency for State Property Management, Rosimushchestvo, will compile a list of eligible accounts and deposits using information from the tax authorities, the Federal Notarial Chamber, bailiffs and banks. The procedure does not require a separate notarial certificate establishing the state's inheritance rights.
Foreign-currency balances will be converted into rubles at the bank's exchange rate on the transaction date. For precious metals, a cash equivalent must be transferred at the price specified in the agreement, or at the Bank of Russia's accounting price if no such provision exists.
The Insider, which examined the decree, warned that an heir's actual acceptance of an inheritance may not always be identified before assets are transferred. That is the outlet's assessment of a potential legal consequence, not a separate provision of the decree.
The government has been instructed to submit proposals for incorporating the procedure into legislation by April 1, 2027.