Joint bank account

My dad died 6 weeks ago. He and mum had a joint bank account with a £5000 overdraft facility which she has had to use to pay funeral expenses.
She has not received any of my dads final salary pension since he died as they had to stop it in order to recalculate it and put it in my mums name, it is supposed to start again on may 6th with back pay, which will go some way to clearing the overdraft, but not all of it.
She hasn't told the bank yet that my dad has died as she is afraid they will take away the overdraft immediately, and she is relying on that to live and pay the funeral costs.
It is a joint account so surely they won't just take the facility away?
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Comments

  • Yorkshireman99
    Yorkshireman99 Posts: 5,470 Forumite
    mm25 wrote: »
    My dad died 6 weeks ago. He and mum had a joint bank account with a £5000 overdraft facility which she has had to use to pay funeral expenses.
    She has not received any of my dads final salary pension since he died as they had to stop it in order to recalculate it and put it in my mums name, it is supposed to start again on may 6th with back pay, which will go some way to clearing the overdraft, but not all of it.
    She hasn't told the bank yet that my dad has died as she is afraid they will take away the overdraft immediately, and she is relying on that to live and pay the funeral costs.
    It is a joint account so surely they won't just take the facility away?
    If your mother does not tell The Bank and they find out it will not look good. The sensible thing is to make an appointment with the bank to discuss it. Overdrafts can usually be cancelled at short notice.
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 46,018 Forumite
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    The funeral costs can be delayed slightly: ask the funeral director to send the bill direct to the bank for settlement (and ask the bank not to pay it until the pension arrives!)

    Once they have recalculated the pension and started paying it, is she going to be OK without the overdraft, and if not does she have a Plan B?
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  • AnotherJoe
    AnotherJoe Posts: 19,622 Forumite
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    Savvy_Sue wrote: »
    The funeral costs can be delayed slightly: ask the funeral director to send the bill direct to the bank for settlement (and ask the bank not to pay it until the pension arrives!)

    That doesnt sound right to me, I don't beleive a bank will be paying the funeral expenses out of an overdraft, that's essentially giving a loan. And it seems highly unlikely that the new pension arriving will make much difference they were obviously living hand to mouth before if they had no savings.
  • SevenOfNine
    SevenOfNine Posts: 2,357 Forumite
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    Does she qualify for the funeral payment by any chance?
    https://www.gov.uk/funeral-payments
    Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it.
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 46,018 Forumite
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    AnotherJoe wrote: »
    That doesnt sound right to me, I don't beleive a bank will be paying the funeral expenses out of an overdraft, that's essentially giving a loan. And it seems highly unlikely that the new pension arriving will make much difference they were obviously living hand to mouth before if they had no savings.
    I agree, I worded it poorly.

    What I was more suggesting was that the OP's mum needn't panic about paying the funeral bill right now right this minute if that would dip into the overdraft.

    I have already expressed concern over the plan for day to day stuff in future ...
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  • OP says Mum has already paid the funeral charge using the overdraft facility.
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 46,018 Forumite
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    Sorry, misread: funeral costs mentioned twice and I skimmed over the one where she said mum had already paid.

    OK, so there is an urgent need for a Plan B. And NOT telling the bank, whatever her fears, is not a good part of that ...
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  • mm25
    mm25 Posts: 7 Forumite
    Its only a short term problem, once probate has gone through she will be paying in excess of £600k into said bank account (they weren't living hand to mouth as someone has assumed, dads illness and subsequent death came as such a shock they hadn't properly got their affairs in order), but this will take several months

    I really only wanted a yes or no answer, can a bank take away an overdraft facility on a JOINT bank account just because one of the account holders has died?
  • dresdendave
    dresdendave Posts: 889 Forumite
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    mm25 wrote: »
    I really only wanted a yes or no answer, can a bank take away an overdraft facility on a JOINT bank account just because one of the account holders has died?

    I believe an OD facility can be withdrawn at any time on most accounts, regardless of whether it's joint or not.
  • Yorkshireman99
    Yorkshireman99 Posts: 5,470 Forumite
    mm25 wrote: »
    Its only a short term problem, once probate has gone through she will be paying in excess of £600k into said bank account (they weren't living hand to mouth as someone has assumed, dads illness and subsequent death came as such a shock they hadn't properly got their affairs in order), but this will take several months

    I really only wanted a yes or no answer, can a bank take away an overdraft facility on a JOINT bank account just because one of the account holders has died?
    You would have to ask to be certain but overdrafts are usually revocable at will by the bank. The crucial thing to do is be to scrupulously honest with bank. Given what you have said if proof is given there should be no problem.
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