The reason you shouldn't always tell your bank when someone dies is because the bank account will be frozen and means no money can be taken out or deposited.
When my Grandma died we used her debit card legally to pay some of her bills for her that she owed and to buy her a burial outfit.
She had that written out in a will so we were okay to do so and then later we withdrew the rest of the money legally through an ATM which she wanted given to her 3 Grandkids which was not much but it's what she wanted.
After that we notified the bank and we had her will that said we were allowed to withdraw money and so we were okay but without the will it could cause trouble.
Banks don't usually get notified when someone dies and so it's usually the next of kin or family member who notifies the bank when a bank account owner dies.
Someone who was appointed by a court to handle the deceased persons financial affairs can also notify the bank after the person dies or sometimes the bank learns of the persons death through probate.
After death a bank should be notified as soon as possible or within a few days to a week.
The sooner you notify the bank the sooner the account will be frozen and prevent access to the bank account.
However if it's a joint bank account you don't need to notify them as quickly of the persons death and the funds go to the living spouse that is on the joint account owners list.
You would provide the bank with proof of death in the form of a death certificate.
A bank account gets frozen when someone dies if the bank account is not a jointly owned bank account.
If the bank account is jointly owned and one person dies then it does not get frozen and the funds pass on to the living account holder.
However if both jointly owned bank account owners die then the joint bank account then gets frozen and has to go through probate to allow access to and release of the funds.
Creditors can go after joint bank accounts after death to satisfy debts and you may share some responsibility for the debt with the other account owners estate.
If you borrowed money or signed a loan or other agreement as a cosigner then you are responsible for the debt as well.
If you're not a cosigner then you're usually not responsible for the debt of the deceased even when they are your spouse.
However in community property states, spouses actually share the responsibility for certain types of marital debts.
A will does not override a joint bank account as the joint bank account passes outside the will because the joint bank account is considered to be a non probate asset which means it passes directly to the surviving owner instead of going through the will.
And in most cases the joint bank accounts are used as convenience accounts.
A joint bank account does not get frozen when one person dies as joint bank accounts and joint credit union accounts are held with the rights of survivorship.
The rights of survivorship mean that when one of the joint bank account or joint credit account or even savings account holder dies the money in those accounts automatically goes to and passes on to the surviving owner or equally to the rest of the owners if there are multiple people on the bank account.
A bank account will be frozen when someone dies if the bank account is not a jointly owned bank account and only one spouse dies.
If the bank account is a regular non joint bank account then after the bank is notified that the person has died they will freeze the bank account and it will have to go through probate to get the access to the bank account restored and have the funds from the frozen bank account released.
The length of time it takes for a bank to release funds after death is around 6 months although it can take longer depending on how long it takes for the probate to finish.
If there was a will and the funds or money was left to you then it should be released to you after it goes through the probate process but it can vary.
If the bank account is a joint bank account then you would as a living spouse would still have the funds available to you after the death of your spouse.
In general, the executor of the estate handles any assets the deceased owned, including money in bank accounts.
If there's no will to name an executor, the state appoints one based on local law.
Simple estates after a person dies might be settled within six months.
But complex estates which are those estates with a lot of assets or assets that are complex or hard to value can take several years to settle.
If an estate tax return is required, the estate might not be closed until the IRS indicates its acceptance of the estate tax return.
The bank needs to be notified of the account holder's passing as soon as possible, as any bank accounts of the deceased remain active until the bank is notified of the death.
This typically entails providing the original Death Certificate for verification purposes and the Will, if one is available.
After someone dies and if the bank account is not a joint bank account the bank will freeze the bank account.
The executor or administrator will need to ask for the funds to be released and the time it takes to do this will vary depending on the amount of money in the account.
Each bank will have their own guidelines for monetary amounts and release times.