# Closing Joint Account?



## Mike188 (Dec 29, 2009)

I have a question. I have mentioned it to my attorney a couple of times in our e-mails but he has never commented on it so I was starting to think it was a non-issue but wanted to get a few opinions / experiences on it.

My wife had been telling me for a few weeks that she wants a divorce. On a Thursday as she was leaving town she told me that she had been to an attorney and signed divorce papers. The next day, Friday, about $4500 worth of her checks (including one check for $2500 to her attorney and a $1200 deduction to make the monthly payment on a new credit card that she got in her name that I didn't know about) hit the bank and OD's the account. I go to the bank Friday afternoon and deposit $2000 from my business account to cover it and while I am there I open a new personal account in my name only. The following Tuesday I go to the bank and close our joint checking account. That Tuesday night, about 11:00 PM, I am served with papers. She learned that I closed the joint account about two weeks later and gets really mad.

My question is, can she cause me trouble over this? Everything I did was done before I was served with divorce papers.

Everything else was left in tact. Nothing was done to any of our life insurance policies. None were canceled and no beneficiaries were changed. They are being presently deducted from my personal account. We have credit cards that the monthly payment is deducted from our account. I had those switched over to come out of my personal account (she is supposed to reimburse me for half). They are also closed. I even covered a $400 check for a business expense of hers so it wouldn't emberrass her. She said she is going to to compensate me for that. I haven't been reckless or vindictive in with any of our finances regarding the divorce. The only thing I have done was close our joint account. Has anyone else done this prior to being served? Any problems?


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## Homemaker_Numero_Uno (Jan 18, 2011)

I went to the bank today and while I was there asked about how to take my name off a joint account, when the time comes (soon). What I was told is that both parties need to be present to do it, or I can use the Power of Attorney to do it. I wonder how a bank let you close a joint account on your own, as I do not think based on what I was told, this is possible, unless she signed something beforehand with the bank to allow you to do it. I think the bank is in the wrong here, they should not have let you close that account as it was a joint account, so you both needed to agree to closing it.


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## CLucas976 (Jun 27, 2010)

Homemaker_Numero_Uno said:


> I went to the bank today and while I was there asked about how to take my name off a joint account, when the time comes (soon). What I was told is that both parties need to be present to do it, or I can use the Power of Attorney to do it. I wonder how a bank let you close a joint account on your own, as I do not think based on what I was told, this is possible, unless she signed something beforehand with the bank to allow you to do it. I think the bank is in the wrong here, they should not have let you close that account as it was a joint account, so you both needed to agree to closing it.


Banks do not care about wrong I've noticed.

I had a bank account I added stbx to. This same bank would not remove someone from their ex's account without the ex present and would not let her do anything with it, except charge overdraft fees.

My account however, they let him empty the account in one large sum without my knowledge or me present, and then just let me close the entire account myself.


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## 827Aug (Apr 27, 2008)

I successfully closed five joint bank accounts. Three different banks were involved. All had the same policies. It only took one party to close the joint accounts. Now, brokerage accounts were a different matter; it took both signatures on them.


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## Mike188 (Dec 29, 2009)

827Aug is correct. My bank would NOT let me remove my wife from the account unless she signed. It takes both parties too remove a name from an account. They would, however, allow me to close it. That only takes one person.

So 827Aug, at what point in your divorce did you close your accounts?

Everything that I have read and been told is that the courts are primarily concerned with what is done to the money that was in the account, which usually is community/marital property. You can't just take the money and hope to keep it. Half of it is rightfully theirs. I just felt safer knowing that she wasn't going to go crazy with the checkbook and wipe me out.


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## 827Aug (Apr 27, 2008)

My situation is quite complicated since a business was also jointly owned. My estranged husband had been taking unequal distributions (embezzling) from the business beginning in 2006. Also, he hid invoices from me and major vendors did not get paid. Although my estranged husband moved out of the house in 2008, I did not file for divorce until 2009. When the divorce papers were issued there was a clause in them clearly stating that all assets could not be touched (except in the ordinary course of doing business). Of course, my estranged husband completed ignored that clause.

By September 2009 our business was on it's last leg because my estranged husband had basically "gutted" it. During the last week of that month, I became serious ill, went into a coma, and did not get out of the hospital until the end of October. Obliviously my husband didn't expect me to ever get out of the hospital. He really took a lot of money from the two business accounts and also hit one of the other joint accounts hard. It was awful!

After that my attorney told me to basically close all joint accounts. I was to document all money he took while I was in the hospital. If the amounts in the joint accounts were less than or equal to the amounts he took, I could keep it. The amounts I took were no where even close to what he took. It was not an issue.

I really don't blame you for protecting yourself. I would keep very detail records--like when she overdraft the account. Also, make sure you close all joint credit cards. That was also a big part of why my attorney told me to close all joint accounts. My estranged husband bounces most checks he writes and keeps a maximum on several credit cards. It wasn't hard to prove his irresponsibility and justify closing ALL accounts.


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## greeneyedky (Aug 21, 2010)

Ugh .... My ex closed our joint account w/o my knowledge 2 mths before we separated and divorced. He then proceeded to open his own account and had his checks that were direct deposited re-directed to that new account, but continued to tell me the amount of his check every wk. I continued writing checks as I assumed the money was still in our "joint account" paying bills, buying food for us and our children, while he was using our money on his mistress and an attorney. I'm 3 years post divorce and still paying back bounced checks and fees. I had to go to court and plead not guilty, explain what happen. Show where he closed account w/o me and what happen but b/c I wrote the checks I was the one responsible for them! I can go after him in small claims for the check amounts, but yes you should watch everything you do! And keep every paper/receipt, txt, email everything stating from her what she will pay and what you have just to cover your rearend!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Mike188 (Dec 29, 2009)

In my situation everything has gotten paid and I am paying all the bills out of my new account. She is supposed to re-imburse me for half of it. We'll see how that goes. The account was at the bank that I get business loans at and I've had a good relationship with for 10 years. No way I will let OD's or drama creep into that part of my life. I saw it as a strategic move to PREVENT stupid crap from happening. Just eliminated any chance of problems happening right from the beginning. All bills being deducted out of our old account are now being deducted out of my new account. She was mad at first but has accepted it. But she has some strange idea of what life after divorce is like. She wants to live next to me so that we can still be partners and help each other. I don't want to do that.


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## brighterlight (Aug 13, 2009)

Mike188 said:


> In my situation everything has gotten paid and I am paying all the bills out of my new account. She is supposed to re-imburse me for half of it. We'll see how that goes. The account was at the bank that I get business loans at and I've had a good relationship with for 10 years. No way I will let OD's or drama creep into that part of my life. I saw it as a strategic move to PREVENT stupid crap from happening. Just eliminated any chance of problems happening right from the beginning. All bills being deducted out of our old account are now being deducted out of my new account. She was mad at first but has accepted it. But she has some strange idea of what life after divorce is like. She wants to live next to me so that we can still be partners and help each other. I don't want to do that.


"....partners and help each other...." WTF! Yeah, I agree with you, I don't think so. Sounds an awful lot like it would be Purgatory to me.

I think closing ALL joint accounts is the way to go, my problem is that in order to close joint accounts we would need to open new single accounts under our own name to transfer half the balance from the joint card so that we can pay off our respective halves. I guess that would be OK but I am concerned that whatever new credit card account I would open would carry a higher interest rate since our credit is not that great due to all the student loans we have - which is another story in and of itself. All debt incurred for our 3 childrens college loans are under my name only. I would go bankrupt if she decided to stick me with that - thank good she is being very fair about the finances. I am not sure if I can re-cast those and split them up half and half for us. I better be able to do something with that.

Anyway, it won't be fun going through that exercise but, in your case, as far as her telling me she will pay me back - I dunno about that. What if she finds OM, and that person is not happy with her paying you back anything. Gets her to change her mind or convinces her that she doesn't owe you anything. A million things can happen where she wouldn't/couldn't pay you back. Man, I would cut that off immediately. Demand an even split, get it done and move on.


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