Joint bank account, father and son, does son own the account when father dies.

Hello.

My father had a joint Bank Of Ireland current account along with my brother. When my father died did my brother become the sole owner of the account and the money in it?

Is there a definitive answer to this question or is it something that varies from bank to bank based on each bank's policies on this (in this case, the bank is Bank Of Ireland)

Btw, I did a search in here before I posted this. I found previous posts which explained that in a husband/wife joint account scenario, ownership and control of the account passes to the surviving partner when one partner dies. But in my scenario is a father and son who were the joint account holders, so I want to double check if the same rule applies as for a husband/wife.

Thanks in advance for any answers.

I’m fairly sure that husband/wife is a unique situation where everything would go to the survivor.
I don’t think that would be the case here. Give BOI a ring or call into a branch.

Thanks Billybob

It's rather complex. See https://www.thomaswenright.ie/blog/what-happens-to-a-joint-account-when-one-of-the-co-owners-dies

Thanks @PMU, the information at that link is very helpful. I appreciate it.

I believe the answer yes. This was what was told to me by An Post. My grandmother
had opened a joint account with me. I may have had to produce her death certificat to have the account changed to just my name.

Thanks @Towger

My mother and sister had a joint account and when my mother passed away recently my sister went to the bank with the death certificate and copy of will. The bank looked at how the joint account was set up and agreed my sister was now the owner of the account. Which was how it was set up first day.

There may be other accounts where a parent and child have a joint account but it is very clear on setting up that the child is a signatory in the account to deal with the parents affairs but that the money source is just the parent.

Each bank will have its own specific criteria and names and records so they will not automatically assume the money left in the account now belongs to the child. They will do their due diligence.

It's complicated.

The default position with a jointly-owned account (or any other asset) is that, when one co-owner dies, the other becomes the sole owner of the account, and the funds in it. This is so whether the co-owners are husband and wife, parent and child, brother and sister, or anything else.

But this presumption can be overridden:

(a) if the account is expressly set up on different terms (and only the bank can tell you this); or

(b) if there is evidence that this was not the intention of the parties.

For example, my (very elderly) mother and my brother have a joint current account. All of the funds in that account come from sources that belong to my mother, and the account is exclusively used to pay her expenses and to make purchases on her behalf. It's a joint account purely so that my brother can manage all this on my mother's behalf. The purpose for which the account was set out, they ways in which it is used, the sources of the funds that are in the account and the fact that all this has been discussed between my brother and his siblings are all evidence that the funds in the account belong solely to my mother and, when the time comes, they will be administered as part of her estate.

In practice, making a special arrangement with the bank when the account is opened, and opening it on special terms, is relatively rare. Most joint accounts are opened on the basis of a shared understanding between the accountholders and, often, wider family, but the bank isn't part of the shared understanding and it's not reflected in the terms of the contract between the bank and its customers.

So, it's impossible to give a categorical answer to the question raised in the OP without knowing the answer to questions like why the account was set up as a joint account, where the funds in it come from, what they are used for, etc.

Thanks @Clamball & @TomEdison