Landsbankinn has digitised the communication of information about the estates of deceased persons on the date of death directly to the estate register of district commissioners. This includes the balance on accounts and housing mortgages.
This new communication method saves time and simplifies matters for heirs as they no longer need to request this information personally from Landsbankinn and submit it to the district commissioners. The information will be pre-recorded on digital applications and reports that heirs need to complete and submit for the division of estates.
District commissioners have worked on digitising the estate process since 2021. Today, all applications and reports heirs are required to submit in connection with the division of estates are digital. The Housing and Construction Authority (HMS), the Icelandic Transport Authority, Iceland Revenue and Customs, and the Social Insurance Administration (TR) have already begun communicating information about assets and liabilities of estates to the district commissioners’ system.
Around mid-year 2022, the district commissioners in collaboration with Finance Iceland (SFF), requested that Landsbankinn, Íslandsbanki, Kvika Bank and Arion Bank would initiate such automated communication. An announcement on island.is indicates that the other banks will follow suit before the summer.
The Act on Division of Estates was amended in February 2024. Commercial banks and savings banks were then obligated to submit information to district commissioners via digital channels.
