Freezing bank accounts

BooJewels

Thrugelmir said:

JousterX said:

 I'm concerned about the security of the bank accounts, and I'm also not keen for them to moving money from the deceased's bank accounts to their own bank account.

The bank should have been promptly informed of the deceased's demise. At which point the account would have been frozen. Access to the funds other than for payment of the funeral is barred. Any remaining funds being released once probate is granted. 

Not necessarily - that's only the case if the account balance is above that banks threshold for releasing the funds.  I've done several accounts as an executor and funds were released within days and probate wasn't required for it, as the balances were below their thresholds.

RAS

Thrugelmir said:

JousterX said:

 I'm concerned about the security of the bank accounts, and I'm also not keen for them to moving money from the deceased's bank accounts to their own bank account.

The bank should have been promptly informed of the deceased's demise. At which point the account would have been frozen. Access to the funds other than for payment of the funeral is barred. Any remaining funds being released once probate is granted. 

For the most part, banks will release money on sight of the will up to their limit (£30K in some instances.) Probate is needed if property is involved or Premium Bonds.

For small estates, a copy of the death certificate suffices, but the bank will require the receiver to sign a form confirming their right to take charge of it.

And yes, the banks should have been informed ASAP, certainly we did within 24 hours.

bobster2

RAS said:

For the most part, banks will release money on sight of the will up to their limit (£30K in some instances.) Probate is needed if property is involved or Premium Bonds.

For small estates, a copy of the death certificate suffices, but the bank will require the receiver to sign a form confirming their right to take charge of it.

And yes, the banks should have been informed ASAP, certainly we did within 24 hours.

Probate is not required for Premium Bonds if the amount involved is not high (sorry don't have the exact amount to hand).

JGB1955

bobster2 said:

Probate is not required for Premium Bonds if the amount involved is not high (sorry don't have the exact amount to hand).

I think the limit is £5,000.

bobster2

JGB1955 said:

bobster2 said:

Probate is not required for Premium Bonds if the amount involved is not high (sorry don't have the exact amount to hand).

I think the limit is £5,000.

Yes - have checked and that's right - but it's £5000 in total for NS&I savings.

JousterX

I've thinked things over, and I'm considering an idea to propose to the the other executor, for me to close and transfer the funds of some bank accounts to my account, and leave other bank accounts to him to sort out, as I've worked out you can do a very rough 50/50 spit on the total funds. This should hopefully create trust on both sides, if he's agreeable, as we'll roughly be holding equal funds to after the probate. Would that be possible to do?

It's awkward with the current Covid situation that you have to do these things in person, but I guess ID requirements are ID requirements. I assume due to the importance of speed with these things, that you don't have to make a special appointment, first, to sort these things out?

Also, if say an account has £40k in it, and their threshold is £30k, that means none of the £40k can be transferred and the whole funds have to be frozen, yes? And if my sister has/had other accounts with the same bank, but they are under the threshold, those funds could be transferred? I'm guessing the threshold is per account.

Thank you.

bobster2

JousterX said:

Also, if say an account has £40k in it, and their threshold is £30k, that means none of the £40k can be transferred and the whole funds have to be frozen, yes? And if my sister has/had other accounts with the same bank, but they are under the threshold, those funds could be transferred? I'm guessing the threshold is per account.

My understanding is that the threshold usually refers to the total amount with that particular bank - not per account.

JousterX

bobster2 said:

JousterX said:

Also, if say an account has £40k in it, and their threshold is £30k, that means none of the £40k can be transferred and the whole funds have to be frozen, yes? And if my sister has/had other accounts with the same bank, but they are under the threshold, those funds could be transferred? I'm guessing the threshold is per account.

My understanding is that the threshold usually refers to the total amount with that particular bank - not per account.

Ah, so do you think that would mean £30k could be moved and the rest froze, or all funds in all accounts at that bank, froze if the total funds are over £30k?

Thank you.

BooJewels

JousterX said:

It's awkward with the current Covid situation that you have to do these things in person, but I guess ID requirements are ID requirements. I assume due to the importance of speed with these things, that you don't have to make a special appointment, first, to sort these things out?

This was why I suggested earlier about starting with your own bank - it can cut out some of the stages.  I've done two estates during the pandemic and not visited anywhere in person - everything has been done remotely, other than a couple of recent visits to the solicitors to sign house sale contracts and the like - as it just happened to be easier for me, as I was local to them at those times, rather than trying to organise a witness at home.

Keep_pedalling

JousterX said:

bobster2 said:

JousterX said:

Also, if say an account has £40k in it, and their threshold is £30k, that means none of the £40k can be transferred and the whole funds have to be frozen, yes? And if my sister has/had other accounts with the same bank, but they are under the threshold, those funds could be transferred? I'm guessing the threshold is per account.

My understanding is that the threshold usually refers to the total amount with that particular bank - not per account.

Ah, so do you think that would mean £30k could be moved and the rest froze, or all funds in all accounts at that bank, froze if the total funds are over £30k?

Thank you.

No if the amount in the bank exceeds their limit the whole lot will be frozen. They will pay a funeral director from those funds though.