I was discussing something with my family over the weekend and it interested me because it doesn't seem to be right. Basically they said that if you have a joint account either credit cards or a regular like checking account and one of the account holders dies then that account gets frozen. Until when they don't know but seemed to think probate was a reasonable solution. I have been searching but all I can find is that joint accounts become property of the survivor without probate. I can't find anything anywhere that says any account other than an individual account would be frozen. Anyone have any knowledge of this?
Bank account ownership and death
- Thread starter Beattie
- Start date
Who did you piss off?
seriously though, why would you NOT be a beneficiary unless you're suspect of something?
seriously though, why would you NOT be a beneficiary unless you're suspect of something?
I think you need a special Durable power of attorney to give the other person access after your death. What should happen in an emergency is when a person dies withdraw all the money before the bank knows what it going on. How would the Bank know the person is dead?
I think the Executor of the will can access the funds.
I have no idea how probate works, or if every person's estate goes to probate.
There are other things like accessing retirement plans and the like.
While I and my wife both have our own retirement plan, we dont have our own bank account. Generally, a bank account isnt exactly joint. It belongs to one person and the owner grants other people access with a signature card or by filling out a form or something like that. My son did that when he went to college, so my wife could look at his balance and deposit money directly into his account.
I think the Executor of the will can access the funds.
I have no idea how probate works, or if every person's estate goes to probate.
There are other things like accessing retirement plans and the like.
While I and my wife both have our own retirement plan, we dont have our own bank account. Generally, a bank account isnt exactly joint. It belongs to one person and the owner grants other people access with a signature card or by filling out a form or something like that. My son did that when he went to college, so my wife could look at his balance and deposit money directly into his account.
It's not a matter of being a beneficiary. It's a question of joint account ownership and if they freeze the account. Someone said that when her husband went for heart surgery they made sure to have separate credit cards because if he were to die then the joint accounts would be frozen and she wouldn't have had money to even pay for the funeral. I thought this was absurd and my searching seems to confirm it since I cant find anything at all about freezing joint accounts on death. The only situation that I found that is similar is if he had the cards and she was just an authorized user instead of a true joint account holder. Then the card would probably be frozen.
Why would the bank care? The money is also owned by that other person
This is false. The executor's job is to execute the instructions on the will and has no ownership of any property unless the will says to.
Not everyone's does. It only has to happen if there is some property that only the one person owned, a dispute, or something else in the will that needed it.
Yes, those are all well and good. They are handled separately from like a checking account but will follow the same basic rules. My wife would get ownership of my 401k for example but since it is only in my name it would be "frozen" until it was released (though probate i guess)
Yes and no. You can have a credit card that has authorized users. I don't think that this will count towards the authorized user's credit though. They can just make charges. I don't think this is true of assets like a bank account. Your wife could probably add and withdraw money from that account whenever she wished (as well as being liable for overdrafts).
Originally posted by: Goosemaster
I was not aware of that at allThat really sucks
Oh no, he didn't die. They were just discussing having separate cards and I asked why and that is the reason they did.
compman25
Diamond Member
- Jan 12, 2006
- 3,767
- 2
- 81
When my dad died none of my parents accounts were frozen. The only one that cared was a credit card where they had death benefits where the cc company had to pay off the account. They wanted a copy of his death certificate. When they got it they paid off the balance, and they didn't close the account. My mom still has that account.
IronWing
No Lifer
- Jul 20, 2001
- 72,907
- 34,034
- 136
Modern joint accounts are generally set up to give a surviving partner full access after the death of the other partner.
To avoid having assets tangled up in probate get legal advice (because this ain't legal advice) and look into setting up a living trust and moving assets into the trust. When one partner dies, the assets of the trust stay with the survivor and don't have to go through probate. Setting up a living trust is easy. Moving assets into the trust involves more work, particularly moving a house with mortgage attached.
To avoid having assets tangled up in probate get legal advice (because this ain't legal advice) and look into setting up a living trust and moving assets into the trust. When one partner dies, the assets of the trust stay with the survivor and don't have to go through probate. Setting up a living trust is easy. Moving assets into the trust involves more work, particularly moving a house with mortgage attached.
This is probably a bad idea. It a trust owns your house I am pretty sure you lose all of the tax deductions.
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