Q: When a spanish citizen and tax resident passes away, what documents does IBKR request in order to transfer/release the assets to the heirs?
A: Kindly note that only United States-based (residents) Individual accounts are eligible for beneficiary registration at IBKR at the moment.
For all non-US residents, once IBKR has been notified of the death of an individual account holder by the executor of their estate or the surviving account holder, the account will be classified as a deceased account and activity (e.g., trading, transfers) is generally prohibited until legal authority is established. It is important to let your relatives and heirs know about your IBKR brokerage account. In case of an unfortunate event, they will be required to contact us.
The documents required to establish legal authority can differ depending on the type of account the account holder has at his or her death (e.g., single, joint, trust) and the country of legal residency. These documents will include a death certificate and often other official documents such as a Court Letter of Appointment for the executor, power of attorney for transferring stock ownership, proof of domicile, and trustee certification. Physical documents must be mailed and signed in the appropriate capacity, they will be rejected if information on the document has been altered, or the documents are outdated or missing the appropriate court seal. For Probated Estates, distributions from a deceased account will be titled in the name of the estate rather in individual heir or beneficiaries.
Notification regarding a deceased account may be sent to estateprocessing@interactivebrokers.com or estateprocessinghk@interactivebrokers.com (for IBHK, IBAU and IBSG accounts only). At that time, general information will be taken and the executor will be provided with information on how to proceed.
IBKR will not be able to advise you on the details of the will. You can create your will with consultation with your legal advisor according to your legal resident country laws and regulations. Having a will is not mandatory, but having it does make the process easier. If there is no will, your surviving account holder must have a court order.
The surviving account holder must provide us the death certificate and other documents notifying us of the unfortunate event. The surviving account holder/holders can call us on our hotline to know the steps to be taken for the account inheritance process but kindly note that the documentation for the same must be sent and done via an electronic format only.