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Joint Account with Deceased Individual

I have a joint account with my now deceased dad. Both our names are on the account. Do I keep the account or do I have to change it?

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In most states, a joint account is owned by the surviving joint owner(s) immediately upon the death of one of those owners, so that account is probably already yours. You should not continue to operate the account with your dad's name on it, though. That could confuse matters in the unlikely event of a bank failure that requires the FDIC to pay account holders. It could also cause problems if any interest continues to reported in your dad's name.

Take a copy of your dad's death certificate to the bank. Then the bank will close the account and open a new one in your name only, transfer the balance of the account into an account that's already open in your name only, or change the records of the joint account to reflect only your ownership.

Published on BankingQuestions.com 4/04/07