Dormancy in join account - I can't get my money

MeteredOut

marcia_ said:

 MeteredOut said:

Legally, as soon as you put £hi 800 in the account, that money was as much your friends as it is yours, so the bank cannot just give it to you. And if she has died, her estate (husband) has may have legal right to it too (though there may be weird US inheritance laws at play).

You need to explain what you mean by dormant, and somehow get it activated again so you can access it.

 Thats not necessarily the case. I have a joint account with my hubby and have free access to every penny without him needing to give permission. 

What you've said does not refute what I said, that the friend owns the money as much as the OP, just as you own the money in your joint account as much as your husband does.

When someone logs in to a joint bank account to make a withdrawal, or makes a withdrawal at an ATM, the bank is acting on the understanding that both parties are aware of that (as per the T&Cs both signed up to when the account was opened).

So, your husband has given you permission to remove that money (or, more correctly, provide the bank with his permission for you to access those funds) - from the point when the account was opened and on an ongoing basis.

But the OP needs to tell us what they mean by dormant. If they still have online access and/or an ATM card, there must be a reason why the funds could not be withdrawn from the account.

born_again

I guess OP does not have a card for the account. They need to request one & then can withdraw the funds either via ATM or just normal card spending. 
Given they have been to branch to prove ID, this should not be a issue.

Tinkywinks108

Theleak250 said:

itsthelittlethings said:

Why on earth would you put £800 into a joint account where you had had not contact with the other account holder for over twenty years?

That did make me laugh out loud. 

In all seriously to the OP. I had such a dormant account at Santander, I have never known it be required to have both people to bring the account out of a dormant state. The only time the other person was required was to close down the account or transfer it solely to me. Which bank is it?

It is Santander! Current account. Interesting - perhaps the guidelines have changed more recently, was your account dormant some time ago? 

Tinkywinks108

eskbanker said:

Tinkywinks108 said:

Since then, the account has become dormant.

Just to be clear, did the bank actually use the word 'dormant', which, as above, usually signifies an account that hasn't been used in any way for many years, or did they simply advise that it can't be accessed until the identities of both parties have been verified?

Tinkywinks108 said:
I can see the funds in there on my online banking, I just can't access it.

How have you tried to access the money so far and what exactly are the error messages when doing so?  Have you had any correspondence about this?

Yes, this is exactly the term that was used. If that is the case, I'm not sure I understand as it can't have been more than 3 years ago that I transferred the money in there. I've used the account sporadically for years with no issues. 

Apparently they had emailed me to warn me the account was about to be made dormant (I could have quite easily missed it or it went into my junk) as a security measure. At the time, my partner had a similar email from his account (another bank) and when he spoke to them on the phone, he asked if there were any disadvantages in letting it go dormant and was told there wasn't. 

When I log on to my account, I can see the funds and my account details. When I try to do anything, it says 'account not available.'

Tinkywinks108

marcia_ said:

 If you can see the account on your online banking why can you not just transfer the money to another account? Are you given errors? 

Yes, when I try to carry out any transaction it says 'account not available.'

Tinkywinks108

born_again said:

I guess OP does not have a card for the account. They need to request one & then can withdraw the funds either via ATM or just normal card spending. 
Given they have been to branch to prove ID, this should not be a issue.

I don't currently have a card for the account, I don't think they will give me one as the account is not active. 

Theleak250

MeteredOut said:

Legally, as soon as you put £800 in the account, that money was as much your friends as it is yours, so the bank cannot just give it to you. And if she has died, her estate (husband) has may have legal right to it too (though there may be weird US inheritance laws at play).

You need to explain what you mean by dormant, and somehow get it activated again so you can access it.

That would be a very strange joint account!

Tinkywinks108

born_again said:

I guess OP does not have a card for the account. They need to request one & then can withdraw the funds either via ATM or just normal card spending. 
Given they have been to branch to prove ID, this should not be a issue.

I tried to apply for a new card online but again, like all other banking requests since the dormancy, I received the same error message that this account was not available.

Tinkywinks108

MeteredOut said:

Legally, as soon as you put £800 in the account, that money was as much your friends as it is yours, so the bank cannot just give it to you. And if she has died, her estate (husband) has may have legal right to it too (though there may be weird US inheritance laws at play).

You need to explain what you mean by dormant, and somehow get it activated again so you can access it.

I do understand that. I should have emptied the account and opened a new one in my name alone. But I didn't, I screwed up. I received a £800 one off payment from work as I had been underpaid, I didn't want to keep it in my other main account as it would just vanish, I was anxious that my son would need money for uni so I just put it in this joint account - thinking, I've had no problems with using the account in the past. So I'm now trying to find a way around this. 

You are right, legally the money is as much as my friend's as it is mine. However, it is more mine than it is the bank's. 

born_again

Tinkywinks108 said:

born_again said:

I guess OP does not have a card for the account. They need to request one & then can withdraw the funds either via ATM or just normal card spending. 
Given they have been to branch to prove ID, this should not be a issue.

I tried to apply for a new card online but again, like all other banking requests since the dormancy, I received the same error message that this account was not available.

Go to branch might be better