Closing a joint account when one party is deceased

babyshoes

Hi all,

I have a joint account at HSBC with my uncle, who passed away in another country about a year ago. The reason for having a joint account was to help him manage his money on his travels, since he wasn't technically resident here but needed somewhere for any salary to be paid into.

Since he has passed away, the little money that was in the account has, by family consensus, been used towards his brother's medical expenses.

I think it is time to close the account, as I have no need of it, but wonder what documents they will need. I don't have access to an original death certificate, but I do have a copy certified by the funeral home. I have his bank cards and photocopies of some ID. Will this be sufficient? Do I go into a branch or speak to someone on the phone?

I keep putting it off, as it is an emotional thing for me to have to do, and I am worried that they will be unpleasant about it all, especially the fact that the little (around £100) money in the account was withdrawn after his death.

I have some time off work at the moment, so should probably go and do it next week, please reassure me that it won't be too difficult!

Thanks!

bryanb

As it is joint, you are entitled to withdraw, don't worry. Take all the paperwork you have into a branch

Ditch_Crawler

bryanb wrote: »

As it is joint, you are entitled to withdraw

No! Unless the rules have changed in the last few years, a joint account becomes 'frozen' upon the death of an account holder.

I would suggest that you approach the bank very gently indeed, because you may have a lot of explaining to do.

Ditch

Biggles

On the death of a joint account holder, the balance passes automatically to the surviving holder and the account wouldn't be frozen.

But they will certainly wonder why you have carried on using the account for a year without bothering to tell them of the death.

They would also be concerned if they knew this was not a genuine joint account but only made joint so that you could manage 'his money'. Obviously, by making it joint, it was no longer 'his money' but became yours jointly, so would not have been a proper way to help him manage his salary etc.

Fortunately the amount was small (even smaller now) and I doubt they will bother too much. It would be tempting just to walk away and leave it but then you might find yourself liable for any future fraud or even charges on the account.

Mikeyorks

Ditch_Crawler wrote: »

No! Unless the rules have changed in the last few years, a joint account becomes 'frozen' upon the death of an account holder.

That's never been the case. The money in a joint account is held jointly and severally by both parties ... so the funds simply pass to the survivor. Joint accounts don't trouble Probate in any way.

babyshoes wrote:

please reassure me that it won't be too difficult!

Not if you don't go into detail. Simply give them the bare facts that one of the parties is deceased .... for emotional reasons you'd put it to the back of your mind .... but you are now dealing with consequential issues and one of these is the cosmetic detail of closing the account. You don't need, nor should you, go into any detail about why the account was opened nor who was the main user. That's in the past ... so just do the bare facts needed to get it closed.

Ditch_Crawler

Mikeyorks wrote: »

That's never been the case. The money in a joint account is held jointly and severally by both parties ... so the funds simply pass to the survivor. Joint accounts don't trouble Probate in any way

Possibly then different banks have different t&c's - a few years ago, a relative of mine had enormous problems when her husband died, and she could not access their joint account. I'm sorry if I caused a scare!

Ditch

jonesMUFCforever

Ditch_Crawler wrote: »

Possibly then different banks have different t&c's - a few years ago, a relative of mine had enormous problems when her husband died, and she could not access their joint account. I'm sorry if I caused a scare!

Ditch

This should have only happened if the joint account was overdrawn (even within an agreed overdraft facility).
Otherwise as other posters have pointed out a joint account belongs to the survivour upon showing the death certificate to the bank.
There is no need to take any probate or any other documentation.

fooboo

HSBC T&Cs allow for joint account holders to close accounts now, unless there is a dispute between the parties. Just post a letter in saying you want to close the account and quoting another sort code and account number for the balance to be paid to.

If you tell them he's died then they'll make the account a sole account but chase for the death certificate forever and a day....

babyshoes

Thanks for all the advice - there is nothing in the account, so I think I shall just pop into the local branch with the paperwork I have and briefly ask them to close the account - not go into detail, but if asked just say that it has been too emotional for me to deal with such a minor matter until recently. There never has been much money in it, and as I said the last of his money went out shortly after his death. I do hope there won't be too much of a problem or I will probably end up bawling, which is always embarassing!