Getting out of joint: some jurisdictions make it difficult and costly to get money from joint accounts

Abstract

By far, the joint bank account is the most common way for married couples and other close relatives to keep their liquid funds accessible to each other during their lives, and for many, on death as well. It is commonly understood in a number of jurisdictions that on the death of one of the joint owners, the survivor may freely access the balance in the account. Unfortunately, this is not the case in many jurisdictions around the world. In the latter group of jurisdictions, the survivor may be required to undertake court or other administrative action or to answer to other relatives of the deceased joint owner before gaining access to funds. Accordingly, it would be helpful for advisors who engage in cross-border planning to be aware of the rules in other jurisdictions. This discussion covers such rules in 17 of the more common jurisdictions.