What Happens When My Wife Dies?

Dear Scott,

My question to you is this. In your column you often state that couples should have their money in joint accounts. What happens when one passes away? We have been advised to have separate bank accounts just for such a situation, because when one passes away all accounts with their name on it are frozen, and the surviving partner has no access to the funds. How do you overcome this?

Robert

Hi Robert,

No, that’s not right. A bank will not freeze money in a joint account -- it belongs to both account holders jointly. If one of you dies, the other would have to present a death certificate to have the account changed over to their name only, but there’s no reason they wouldn’t be able to access the money in the joint account. Still, good on you for thinking about this stuff -- sorting out your affairs ahead of time is a really thoughtful, loving thing to do.

Scott