Question about bank accounts

[NorthernDancer]

My DH has incurable cancer and as time goes on, I'm starting to think about the financial arrangements we need to make. We already have a joint current account and a joint savings account, although both of us have money in our sole names as well.

I thought I would be able to access the joint accounts immediately after his death, because it is my money as well, but my friend, whose DH died recently, told me this is not the case and that I will not be able to access joint money.

I'm not sure she's right on this, but she's sticking to her guns. What you think or what was your experience?

Thank you.

When my husband died the joint accounts simply became mine s we held them as what I think is called ‘joint tenants’. We didn’t ask for that back in the ‘90s, it was just what we got. On receiving a death certificate the joint accounts were changed to my name only. For accounts in his name I didn’t have any access until probate was granted though. We lived in England at the time, it might be different in Scotland I guess.

I had power of attorney for DM and had some access after death to bank accounts. You can agree with him to have your own account. Have minimal amounts in the joint account or ask the bank for guidance. DH and me have a joint account but we both be on the app we are individuals. Plus the account is not always recognised in our joint names. So I’d get me own account. I’m sorry you are facing this.

Yeah, you can definitely still access the joint accounts, my mum had no issues when my dad died. We just needed the death cert and probate for the other accounts.

My bank transferred the joint account into my sole name, and on provision of the required paperwork, transferred the funds from his personal account to me. We didn’t have to wait for probate for that, but then it wasn’t large amounts. On notification of his death they did freeze his personal account so money couldn’t go in or out, so that might be something to bear in mind. Most other things I did after probate. You could always ask your bank in advance, or find their bereavement process online.

Poa gives zero rights after death. As soon as you inform the bank of the death they freeze any solo accounts.

Joint accounts (properly labelled as such) simply revert to the survivor as they are jointly and severally owned.

As an aside, surely noone has to "agree with" their husband to have their own account?

@NegroanyWell - you can delay a bit and move the money if you need to. Not ideal obviously! The separate bank account is best.

The joint accounts will become yours . Your friend must have been referring to something else.

My late DH had a joint account with his ex wife still (very little in it, just had never been closed) and as a joint-tenancy account that reverted to his ex wife's sole name on his death.

Until the bank is informed of the death they won't know, and once informed they should automatically revert a joint-tenancy account to the survivor.

I found the bereavement specific telephone numbers were much better than general helpline contacts.

Wishing you all the best at this very difficult time.

My DP's joint account kept operating even when DM passed away. They just took her name off the account.

If he still has capacity he could move enough money to cover immediate expenses from his sole account into the joint account. Anything in your joint account will be yours. You can pay funeral expenses from a deceased bank account if you are next of kin on production of the death certificate and the invoice from the funeral director too.

Your friend is incorrect. The joint account will simply change to an individual account for you. His name will be removed from it and yours will remain. You won't lose access.

"not ideal" = illegal. But up to you I guess.

In my experience, the joint account reverted to me; the bank simply changed the name on the account and issued a new cheque book (which will be used about once a year!). The bank was also more relaxed than I expected about releasing money from his sole account - up to a certain limit, they will release money to next of kin on production of the death certificate, even before probate. They will also (if necessary) pay funeral expenses from the account.

I am sorry you are going through this.

Your friend is incorrect. My mother was able to access their joint account after my dad died.

The joint accounts will revert to your sole name. Any accounts in his name will be frozen so I would advise these are closed asap.

Funds can be released from a bank account prior to probate to pay funeral expenses, Department of Work and Pensions and HMRC.

BTW if he does have an apple mobile phone please ensure now you are named as a legacy contact on this. At the very least ensure you know his passcode to access his phone.

I helped my mum with finances after my Dad died earlier this year and she had immediate access to the joint accounts. They just got put into her sole name.

Can your husband transfer from his account to the joint account?

You will have the same access to that joint account

If not, and you need the money, you can pay for his funeral from his sole account

So sorry you are going through this

They only release money to nok if that nok can show they are the executor (next of kin has no legal standing in this situation), have the death certificate, and if their own rules state probate is not required.

Banks set their own rules on whether they require probate to release funds. Nationwide for mum was £20k I think, but she had more than that, so they wouldn't release without probate, Coop was higher, like £50k, and she had under £20k which was quite annoying (Coop were by far the most difficult to deal with).
Nationwide drew a cheque for the funeral from her account when I took the invoice in.
I got NS&I to pay the inheritance tax because I figured gov to gov it might go smoothly - it did, it took under a week for them to pay and me to get the probate certificate.

Ok, perhaps I should have been more specific in saying me as next of kin, and I don’t want to share all the details here, but my point was and remains that the bank (two banks in fact) released the funds from my husband’s accounts long before probate was granted, because there is a limit below which they don’t require evidence of probate.

I'm sorry you're having to deal with this, it's horrid. Joint accounts are just that, you'll be able to access it but not anything solely in his name. I'm sure you're on it, but make sure that you are named as a beneficiary to any of his pensions.

One thing we did, which was a huge help was to make a list of pretty much everything - when it's due, how it's paid; account numbers and names. So car tax/insurance/mot; utility bills; broadband; house insurance; passwords for computers, ebay, tv license etc etc. It saved so much time having it all in one place.

Another thing, if you haven't already done so, is discuss funeral arrangements. My DH wasn't expecting to die, he went in for surgery and didn't survive, but he had written what he wanted by way of a service and it was very comforting to know that I could do that for him.

Wishing you strength.

Thank you everyone. That's really helped.

We had everything joint. In the two weeks before DH died (also from incurable, metastatic cancer) I opened an account in my name and moved almost all of the money in there. When he died, there was very little in the joint one so it didn't matter how long it took to resolve. The bank actually dealt with it all very quickly.

My complication is that DH and his ex-partner - they split up 17 years ago and DH and I met a year later - were tenants in common owning what had once been her marital home and was their joint home for about two years. After he moved out, she reverted to paying the mortgage herself. They tried many times to get his name removed, but the lender always refused to have the mortgage in her name only, even though she has proven for 17 years that she can pay it without him. Thus, at the time of his death, he was still a co-owner of 'her' house and I have now inherited his share. Far from ideal.

I'm so sorry this is happening. Echoing everyone else, when my Dad died their joint accounts became sole accounts in my Mum's name on production of the death certificate at the branch and going through things with Bank of Scotland's bereavement team, who I have found very good for the most part. As others have said, dealing with a specific bereavement team is the way to go for all banks and utilities.

One thing to bear in mind that we found out when Dad died: credit cards aren't joint. Mum and Dad certainly thought of their credit card account that way, but in fact Dad was the account holder and Mum had a second card issued on his authority. When we notified the bank that Dad had died, the account had to be closed. We applied for a new card for Mum which came through pretty quickly but that could have been a major inconvenience at a time when you really don't need any unforeseen issues.

As others have said : a joint account just transfers to the remaining account holder upon the first death.
Trying to get the deceaseds name removed was an entirely different saga - took the Co op bank over a year despite taking all the official paperwork in several times.

My husband died a few weeks ago (England) and so I am going through this now. As everyone says, if the money is in joint accounts it will just pass to you on survivorship rules with no need to go through the estate. Our main joint account was with Nationwide and they confirmed I could use it as normal, draw from the joint savings etc with no delay. Once they had the death certificate then it was quickly put in my sole name. He did have ISAs in his sole name and I have had to get probate for them, that is taking much longer. If he's got capacity then he might want to put anything (non ISA) that he doesn't currently need into your name. I appreciate that's a hard thing to do though. I'd also make sure that any insurances/utilities etc that are in his name are put into yours as it's much easier to do with him asking them to than it is afterwards.

Really sorry you're in this position, feel free to DM me.