Can a spouse access bank accounts before inheritance is distributed?

[Applepieandcustard555]

My Dad and Stepmum have made their own Wills since they married five years ago, with me set to inherit from my Dad, and likewise, my Stepmum's children are to inherit from their Mum.
They live in rented accommodation, so that's not an issue, and my Dad's Will states that I'm to inherit his money and certain belongings. He's insistent that he wants me to benefit from whatever money he has.

I was wondering what happens if my Dad passes before my Stepmum, as his wife, would she be able to access his bank account before any money my Dad wants to pass to me is given out?
Just to say, I get on very well with my Stepmum (and she is like another mum to me even though she's only been with my dad for eight years), and I doubt very much she'd go against my Dad's wishes, but I'm curious to know if it's possible that a married person can potentially access bank accounts belonging to their deceased spouse, and spend their money before inheritance is given to whoever is supposed to receive it?

I'd obviously rather have my Dad than any inheritance, but my Dad's wishes are important to me, and I'd want to ensure that his wishes are followed and that they can't be over ridden

Joint account unless it’s frozen yes
but there’s on line banking and cash card so depends if they had there details

They have separate bank accounts my Dad's told me.

The executor can access things, to allow the money to be distributed. Is she the executor?

No. I'm the Executor

Individual bank accounts are frozen at death so she wouldn't be able to access them and the executor would need probate before the bank would release any funds. Just seen you are the executor so you would get access not your step mum. Obviously there's time between dying and informing the bank of the death where, if she knows his logins she could access but then you would pick that up when you get the bank statements

My friend recently lost his dad and his parents had separate bank accounts. The bank did transfer the contents from his dad’s account to his mums. When my FIL died, the bank transferred to my DHas he was the NOK.

Has his bank been informed of his death?

You can let the bank know as soon as someone dies (ideally with a copy of the death certificate) and they will freeze the accounts. They are able to pay the funeral directors from the frozen accounts. It's fraudulent to access someone's bank account after they have died.

I had access to my husband's bank account and I made sure that I topped up the joint account just before he died so that I had easy access to funds but it was all coming to me eventually anyway.

If they have a joint account then the money in it would become hers on his death and not form part of the estate

if their own accounts then as executor once you notify the bank the account is frozen though they can make payments from it to help eg with a funeral etc - you coordinate with the bank’s bereavement team

Speed is od the essence does he only have one account ? Any other savings ? Do you know roughly how much he has? Who is power of attorney ? Id she gets financial pia she can access anything and withdraw and control money

So it would just be online or cash card

when my dad died he had a few random bank accounts with no more than £1000 in them
it’s definitely wrong but we just emptied them for my mum with cash card the bank don’t know he’s died unless you tell them

He’s not dead. OP is asking about the future.

You inform the bank of his death and it’s frozen, you apply for probate and it’s then unfrozen for the executor(s) to distribute funds. Assuming under £325k (including any pension) there’s no inheritance tax to pay. The only exception to the above is funeral expenses can be paid ahead of probate, there’s rules over what can be paid

I hope not - he’s not dead yet!

POA is for living people.

And I hope my Dad's got plenty more miles on the clock yet!

One main account I think my Dad said, I don't think they've taken out POA on each other

They have separate accounts I believe

Thanks, that's useful to know

Have they made any provision to make sure your dad/step mum will be ok when one of them passes? Will step mum struggle financially?

Stepmum is very comfortable financially

POA ceases after death, so it’s not really relevant to what happens afterwards.

If your step mum has either POA access, or just has access to your dad’s banking details (as did my step mum) she could actually (but not legally) transfer money from his sole accounts after death and up until the point the bank had been notified. Either she (spouse) or you (executor) can notify the bank when he dies. Joint accounts simply transfer to her.

As executor you could challenge any post-death transactions (and indeed any pre-death transactions if no POA was in place).

In our case, my dad left everything to our step mum, and her will shares whatever is left in the end between us and her nieces and nephews. (50% between two of us and 50% between her 4). Fortunately I trust her implicitly and have (not yet active) POA. She’s also been trying to give us money left right and centre since he died, god love her.

Banks will normally release money from accounts, after seeing the death certificate but before the grant of probate. The amount available depends on the bank, usually between £5-50k. Probate is not always needed for small estates that don't include property and is a lot of work if the estate is only worth a few thousand

There's no property

Just be aware that even if it a personal account, if the bank regard it as joint, they won't necessarily freeze it.

When my dad died, his account was in his name but I had a card on it to do his shopping etc. I had POA.

I assumed it was frozen but it wasn't. I found out when his care home contacted me 2 months after he died to say he was still paying them. Fortunately he still had a small balance in the account and wasn't overdrawn and I didn't have to pay bank charges.

It's worth doubling checking that everything that should have been frozen has been.