View Full Version : How do I close Bank Accounts
jriley75165
May 20, 2009, 03:41 PM
My mother passed away 12/07, and I am the only heir. I sold her house, so there is no property. I have an affadavit of heirship and a certified copy of her death certificate. She passed away in a Dallas county hospital. What else do I need to close the account?
LR
AK lawyer
May 20, 2009, 06:22 PM
Easiest way to find out is to show those documents to the bank and try to convince them that is all you need.
Fr_Chuck
May 20, 2009, 06:56 PM
Of course unless your name was on the deed, you can not just sell her house, without going though probate court, only the court can change the ownership at death unless you were listed on the deed.
Also any money in any of her bank accounts ( unless you are a listed owner also) is to though probate court have the money moved to an estate account, which you were to set up when she died to handle all of her final affairs.
So please explain the ownership staus of house and bank accounts, remember even as the heir, if you were not on the deed, unless you sell it though probate there could be a cloud on the title which could come back to you latter.
jriley75165
May 21, 2009, 05:25 AM
I am in Texas, and my mother passed away 12/07 without a will. I have an affadavit of heirship, which I needed to sell her house. The house was sold 3/08. I tried to close her account with my affadavit of heirship paper and certified copy of her death certificate, but the bank said I need a Judge's order certifying the heirship paper. Thy had also said something about probate. She doesn't have any real estate left since the house was sold. What do I need for the bank?
rxnarunner
May 21, 2009, 07:03 AM
In New Jersey I needed a "short certificate" ( I think that's the name). Assets were under 10K however. They listed all of his bank accounts and assets on the cert.
I had to go to the courthouse in the county that my dad lived. I had to bring his most recent bank statements and anything else that showed assets. They typed up a short cert and I had to bring it to the bank and they transferred my dads account into an estate account in my name.
ScottGem
May 21, 2009, 07:08 AM
Ask the bank why your certificate was accepted for a house sale closing, but itsn't good enough for closing a bank account. Ask them to cite any law or rules that give them the right to refuse you.
P.S. I merged your two threads, please don't start a new thread for the same issue, use the Answer This Question options to post a follow-up.