A joint bank account is a good way to put money together when you are in a relationship. The issue with this is that you will have to decide what is going to happen to that account if your relationship ends.
The last thing that you need to do when your relationship ends is leave the account open. Doing this could mean that your ex is able to rack up overdrafts or clean out the account.
When it is time to close the account, it is best if you and your ex go together to get this taken care of. It is possible to close it on your own; however, this might take longer and doesn’t provide you with the protection that doing this together does.
If you close the account together, each party knows what is happening to the funds in the account. You both know for a fact that the account is closed. This means that there won’t be any questions or issues down the road about what happened.
A very important thing for you to think about here is that you have to change any direct deposits or automatic bill payments that you have associated with the account. You might have to go without a paycheck for a bit if the employer tries to deposit it into a closed account. You might get a rude awakening if a utility payment doesn’t go through because the account is closed.
There are other considerations that you have to think about when you end a relationship. Make sure that you take the steps necessary to protect yourself in these situations.
Source: Bankrate.com, “Breaking up? How to close a joint bank account,” Adams Hartung, July 17, 2017