One common piece of advice during divorce is that you want to close your financial accounts, such as a shared bank account. There are two sides to this. The first is that you and your spouse will be dividing your finances. You likely need a personal bank account for future paychecks or withdrawals. You can close the shared account and set one up under your own name.
The second reason to do this is that your spouse may attempt to limit your access to funds, especially if they don’t want to get divorced. Some people find that their spouse secretly emptied the bank account and closed it without their knowledge, and they no longer have access to money after filing for divorce. Splitting your funds between two different accounts means that neither you nor your spouse has to worry about this issue.
Preventing financial fraud
But to prevent the above scenario from happening, many financial institutions will require all account holders are present to shut down the account. It’s not something you can do online or through the app on your phone. You have to go to the branch, in many cases, and close it in person.
If you go to the bank and find that your spouse has already transferred the money to a different account or closed your account down entirely, it could be a form of financial fraud. They can include attempts to hide or dissipate assets prior to the divorce. This is illegal, but people do still attempt to do it.
As such, it’s quite important for you to understand all of your legal options if you believe this has happened to you. There are steps you can take, and it can help to work with an experienced legal team who has been through this process before.