Can a bank freeze a joint account because a dead spouse owed money?
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Can a bank freeze a joint account because a dead spouse owed money?
My father passed away and was the sole money maker. He and mom shared an account. Because dad was the sole, he owed money on a loan. Bank has frozen account. Mom is trying to pay hospital bills. They had money in the account.
Asked on October 9, 2011 under Estate Planning, Virginia
Answers:
M.T.G., Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
I am so sorry for your loss. Are you sure that the account was frozen because of the loan owed by your Father? It may just be a coincidence. I will explain why. In New York, for example, once the state is notified of the death of a person accounts over I believe $30,000 are frozen automatically, although technically with a joint account the money passed to her automatically upon his death. So indeed the bank may have acted improperly here. What you Mother needs to do is to go down and file for temporary letters of administration or if there is a Will, Temporary Letters Testamentary to be able to have the account unfrozen and to figure out what is going on here. And she can do what ever is necessary with her fiduciary powers under the law. Good luck.
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