We are an elderly, long-married couple who have all our savings in joint names, including national savings certificates and current and savings accounts with our bank.
The bank accounts can be accessed by each of us independently, and I am assured by phone that when the first of us dies, the survivor will be able to continue operating the current and savings accounts and change them into the survivor’s name at their convenience.
In the case of the national savings certificates, however, the survivor will be required to obtain and send in a death certificate and certified will before redeeming the savings certificates. This will take time expense and stress for the bereaved.
We had assumed that putting our savings certificates into joint names would be the most convenient arrangement for the survivor, and I wonder would we be better off having our savings in equal but individual certificates?
Mr BH
The first thing I want to say is not to worry. The second, more cautionary, is never to believe what you are told over the phone unless it is backed up by something in writing.
All joint bank accounts are not created equal. You can think, for instance, of a situation where an older, less mobile person will add the name of a younger relative to their account so that their financial affairs can be managed more efficiently. There is no suggestion that such a situation means the younger relative has automatic access to the account of the death of the other named accountholder.
How cumbersome is getting a death cert or a certified copy of a will? Not at all, really, at least if you are the executor to the estate
The same can be true even where spouses or partners are named jointly on a bank account, but all the money in the account comes from one of the people.
Having said that, most banks will default to a position that married joint account holders are equal owners of the account, with the proceeds passing by survivorship from one to the other on the death of the first spouse or partner.
Ideally, this is clarified on the documentation when the account is established but, just in case, it would be no harm to seek confirmation from your bank(s) in writing that this is the position for each of your current and savings accounts.
Even then, while the surviving spouse will have access to the funds after the death of their spouse, the bank will not formally transfer the account to their sole name without a death certificate.
Which brings us to your main concern.
You note that, in the case of the national savings certificates, the survivor will be required to obtain and send in a death certificate and a certified copy of the will before redeeming the savings certificates. That is true, but it really is not the insurmountable problem you fear it might be.
You should have no real concern about access by the surviving spouse to jointly held assets that are passing under survivorship rather than through an estate
By their nature, An Post savings certificates are medium-term savings, designed to run for their five year term. The interest payable on the certificates (currently 9 per cent if held to maturity) is lopsided towards the end of the term.
You can cash them in early, but you will get a much more modest rate of interest. For certificates under Issue 25 – the current issue – you get no interest at all if redeemed in year one.
If you cash them in in year two, you will get 1.5 per cent, rising to 2.5 per cent in year three. However, that jumps to 4.5 per cent in year four and double again to 9 per cent on maturity.
So this is not cash that either of you expects to require immediate access to, not least as you also have funds in both your current and savings accounts.
So how cumbersome is getting a death cert or a certified copy of a will? Not cumbersome at all, really, at least if you are the executor to the estate.
Whoever is executor can usually get a death cert within a matter of weeks. It’s a good idea to get additional certified copies as you will need them for all kinds of things as you organise a person’s affairs. Certified copies cost around €20 each.
Similarly, a solicitor will provide an executor with a certified copy or copies of the will, again in a matter of days.
So, in real terms, there is a negligible delay – unless there is some dispute between the surviving spouse and the executor (assuming they are not one and the same person).
Once a death certificate is provided, a bank will change the details on a spouses’ joint account to the sole name of the surviving spouse. State savings will do the same for holdings of savings certificates with a death cert and a will as long as they are passing under survivorship – ie, the assets were held jointly and equally.
The bottom line in your case is that you should have no real concern about access by the surviving spouse to jointly held assets that are passing under survivorship, rather than through an estate. Splitting them and putting them in each of your names will certainly delay access to anything in the dead spouse’s name.
Please send your queries to Dominic Coyle, Q&A, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street Dublin 2, or by email to dominic.coyle@irishtimes.com with a contact phone number. This column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice
