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Joint Account after Death
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Shellie19721
Posts: 12 Forumite
Hi, My father has recently passed away and still has a joint account with his deceased wife ( who was my step mother).
I am administrating his estate as he has no will and mimimal assets but been told by the bank I can’t deal with the joint account and if I notify them of my fathers death the funds in the joint account are transferred into his late wife’s name.
Could someone please advise me if this is correct.
Thanks
I am administrating his estate as he has no will and mimimal assets but been told by the bank I can’t deal with the joint account and if I notify them of my fathers death the funds in the joint account are transferred into his late wife’s name.
Could someone please advise me if this is correct.
Thanks
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Comments
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It would be correct if she was still alive but if she pre-deceased him then the funds belong to your father. You might need to show the bank copies of the two death certificates to prove this.Reed0
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Shellie19721 wrote: »Hi, My father has recently passed away and still has a joint account with his deceased wife ( who was my step mother).
I am administrating his estate as he has no will and mimimal assets but been told by the bank I can’t deal with the joint account and if I notify them of my fathers death the funds in the joint account are transferred into his late wife’s name.
Could someone please advise me if this is correct.
Thanks
It sounds like your father didn't notify the bank of your step-mother's death.
When one of two joint account holders dies then the contents of the account pass by survivorship to the one who is still alive.
If your step-mother was the first of the two to die then if you provide the bank with the death certificate for your step-mother the contents of the account will then become wholly part of your father's estate and you can deal with its closure as the administrator of his estate.0 -
Hi,
I have offered the bank my step mother’s death certificate but they say her next of kin need to deal with it.
I am not in contact with them and I am concerned if I get them involved they will want the small amount of money that’s in the account.
I am keen to have access to this money as I require it to pay the funeral and admin cots for the estate.
Any idea how I tackle the bank.0 -
I think that you need to go back to the bank and try again, you may need to speak with a more experienced supervisor.
The bank account and its contents would have become the property of your father at the moment of his wife's death. The death would have been an issue of fact evidenced by the death certificate, it does not need 'dealing with' as such.
For practical purposes the bank my want additional information or documents but it has nothing to do with any 'next of kin' she may have had.0 -
Shellie19721 wrote: »Hi,
I have offered the bank my step mother’s death certificate ...
Any idea how I tackle the bank.
Now the bank may come to accept that the money in the account belonged to your father but whether they will let you have access to it is another matter. Normally you would apply for probate and you would then show the bank papers to prove that you were the administrator of the estate. If the estate is of very small value, less than £5,000 I think, then you may not need to apply for probate but the bank will still require some proof that you have a right to the money in the account before they will let you have it.Reed0 -
Shellie19721 wrote: »Hi,
I have offered the bank my step mother’s death certificate but they say her next of kin need to deal with it.
I am not in contact with them and I am concerned if I get them involved they will want the small amount of money that’s in the account.
I am keen to have access to this money as I require it to pay the funeral and admin cots for the estate.
Any idea how I tackle the bank.
The bank is wrong.
Where one party to a joint account dies then it is the surviving party who would "deal with it". The money in their account automatically becomes theirs, and all the surviving party has to do is provide evidence of the other party's death.
You stand in the shoes of the surviving party as the administrator of their estate after death, and as soon as your step-mother died the money in the account became the sole property of your father.
You have now provided evidence that the step-mother died first, and so the money in the account is solely part of your father's estate. It is absolutely nothing to do with your late step-mother's next of kin.
I would write a concise letter to the bereavement department of the bank stating all this, and asking that they release the funds to you, and stating that if they do not you will have no alternative but to make a formal complaint and then take the matter to the Ombudsman if necessary, as the position in law is clear and simple.0 -
A standard joint account becomes the property of the other account holder(s) on the death of one party to the account.
Example
https://ask.barclayswealth.com/help/international/bereavement/joint-accounts/joint-account
https://personal.natwest.com/personal/life-moments/bereavement/how-to-let-us-know.html
It would have been good practice for your father to have advised the bank of his wife's death.0 -
Shellie19721 wrote: »I am keen to have access to this money as I require it to pay the funeral
If the Funeral Director submits the invoice for the funeral direct to the bank, it can be paid without going through you.0 -
Most high street banks have an Estates department, if branch cannot help call main bank number and ask for that dept , they will sort it out .0
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There should be no way one could hold a *joint* account with a deceased person. At the time of their death, it would become a sole account in the surviving party's name.
It sounds like you're dealing with somebody who's either being awkward or incompetant at the bank. I don't believe there is any requirement to be next of kin to inform a bank of a death. Indeed in my experience the notifying party will often be care home staff, a member of the clergy, a charity worker, a friend, and so on. Sure, the bank can only release the funds to the next of kin, but anybody can notify them of the death.
If you come armed with both death certificates, hopefully common sense will prevail and they will see which order the parties died. If you want to really idiot-proof the process, notify them of the deaths, one at a time?: )0
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