Farra is a death administration assistant for UK families. Get step-by-step guidance for registering a death, applying for probate, notifying banks, and managing bereavement admin. From essential documents to practical checklists, Farra simplifies estate paperwork and funeral-related tasks so you can focus on what matters.
When one holder of a joint bank account dies, the money normally passes to the other holder under the right of survivorship. In England and Wales this happens straight away, whatever the relationship between you, so the bank does not need a grant of probate to change the account into your name. Two things can still matter. For inheritance tax, HMRC counts the share the person who died paid in, not an automatic half. And if the account was mainly their money, the people inheriting their estate may question whether it was meant to be yours. Scotland works differently, as explained below.
In England and Wales joint bank accounts are almost always held so that both holders own the whole balance together, rather than half each. When one of you dies, the other becomes the sole owner. This is the right of survivorship. It applies whether you are married partners, a parent and adult child, siblings or friends, and it works by law, without any court order or grant.
It is unusual for a bank account to be held in separate shares, the way a house can be held as tenants in common. If you are unsure how yours was set up, the bank holds the account records.
Survivorship settles who can use the account. It does not always settle who the money belonged to, which is where the sections on inheritance tax and family disagreements come in.
If the other holder was your husband, wife or civil partner, our guide to a joint account when your spouse dies covers the practical side, such as cards, bills and what to tell the bank.
Many people add an adult child to their account so the child can help with banking, pay bills or step in if they become ill. When the parent dies, survivorship normally means the account passes to the child.
The question that can follow is whether the parent meant the child to have the money, or only to help manage it. If the money was all or mostly the parent's, the people inheriting the parent's estate, often brothers and sisters, may argue that it belongs to the estate rather than to the child who held the account with them. Courts decide this on the evidence of what the parent intended, for example what they said or wrote when they opened the account, and how the money was used.
Some practical steps help whichever way it goes:
If the will or the family's understanding is unclear, our guide to disputes between executors and beneficiaries explains how these disagreements usually unfold.
Not in England and Wales. Where the account passes by survivorship it is outside the deceased's estate for probate purposes, so the executor has no authority over it and the bank does not need a grant before changing it into the survivor's name.
That is why a joint account can be useful in the weeks after a death: the surviving holder can keep paying bills and, if needed, the funeral without waiting for probate.
Probate may still be needed for accounts and property the person owned in their name alone. Our guide to whether you need probate explains how to tell.
Do not assume the English position applies in Scotland. HMRC's manual on joint property under Scots law says: “The fact that a bank account is held in joint names and that receipts for deposits into it are issued in joint names does not necessarily mean it is held in equal shares. Neither does it mean there is survivorship destination.”
A survivorship destination is a clause in the account mandate directing that the money passes to the survivor. Where there is one, it does. Where there is not, the deceased's share falls into their estate and the executor deals with it through confirmation, the Scottish equivalent of probate. HMRC tells its own staff to “resist any suggestion… that the terms in which the account is held can effect either a lifetime gift — or pass the property to a survivor, unless there is other supporting evidence”.
If the account is held in Scotland, ask the bank whether the mandate has a survivorship destination before treating the money as yours. In Northern Ireland, ask the bank how it treats joint accounts there too.
A joint account can pass outside probate and still count for inheritance tax. What it counts at is where people most often go wrong.
HMRC does not start from a 50/50 split. Its Inheritance Tax Manual says you should “normally regard each account holder as beneficially entitled to the proportion of the account which is attributable to their contributions”, and that if the deceased provided the whole of the money, the whole account at death goes on the IHT400. So on a £100,000 joint account that a mother paid into on her own, the figure for her estate is £100,000, not £50,000. Where both holders really did pay in equally, half is right, but because of what each paid in, not by default.
Getting this wrong understates the estate, which matters if it takes the total over the £325,000 nil-rate band. Work out who paid the money in, and keep the evidence.
Money passing to a surviving spouse or civil partner is normally exempt from inheritance tax, so between married couples the share rarely changes the bill. Between a parent and child, unmarried partners or siblings there is no such exemption. Our guide to inheritance tax basics explains the allowances.
Even though the account passes automatically, the bank needs to be told so it can update its records.
Some banks place a short hold on a joint account while they run their own checks. This is bank procedure rather than a legal requirement, and no bank publishes how long it lasts. If you cannot get access, ask the bereavement team to explain why. If you are not satisfied, complain to the bank and then, if needed, to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Our guide to notifying banks after a death lists the bereavement numbers for the main banks.
Joint account terms usually make both holders responsible for the whole of any overdraft. If the account is overdrawn when one holder dies, the bank can ask the surviving holder to repay it. Check the account terms and talk to the bank before paying anything you are unsure about. Our guide to debt after a death explains which debts the estate pays.
If the joint account was a business account, for example a sole trader's account shared with a partner or employee, ask the bank's business team how it handles a death. The answer depends on how the business was set up and whether it carries on. See our guide to what happens when a sole trader dies.
In England and Wales the account normally passes to you by survivorship, so you can keep using it and the bank will change it into your name once it has seen the death certificate. For inheritance tax, the share your mother paid in counts as part of her estate. If the money was mainly hers, the people inheriting her estate may ask whether she meant you to have it, so keep any evidence of why the account was opened.
The surviving holder normally becomes the sole owner by the right of survivorship. In England and Wales this happens automatically, without probate. In Scotland it depends on whether the account mandate has a survivorship destination.
In England and Wales, usually yes. Tell the bank as soon as you reasonably can so it can update its records. Some banks place a short hold while they run checks, so ask what yours does.
In England and Wales, yes. It passes outside the estate, and the bank does not need a grant before changing it into the survivor's name. The deceased's share still has to be included when the estate is valued for inheritance tax.
They may try, if the money was mainly hers and they think she only added you to help manage it. Survivorship gives you the account, but who the money was meant for is decided on the evidence of what your mother intended. Keep statements and anything that shows why the account was opened.
Yes. HMRC includes the deceased's share, worked out from what they paid in rather than assuming half each. If they paid in all of it, the whole balance counts. Between spouses and civil partners there is normally no tax on it.
Banks do not publish this, so we will not guess. Ask the bereavement team when you send the death certificate and forms. If you need money urgently, for a funeral for example, tell them.