Deceased Joint Accountholder Process

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Question:

Is this correct? Surviving joint account owner(s) can continue to use a deposit account as normal. The decedent will need to be removed from any deposit account they are an owner of. We thought the account had to be closed and another one opened but I'm hearing conflicting opinions.

Answer:

This really comes down to a business decision. There is no specific right or wrong way to handle this. Many banks do not want to put someone who has just lost a loved one through a bunch of hassle by opening a new account. Most banks however will not remove someone from an account and will require a new account to be opened unless the person being removed is proven to be deceased.