Bank acted with skill and care in handling dying customer’s wishes

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Bank acted with skill and care in handling dying customer’s wishes

Categories:

Deceased customers' accounts,

Summary:

In May 2024, Stanley went to the bank with his partner and added her name to his accounts. Stanley was terminally ill at the time and died a week later. On his death, all the money in the accounts became his partner’s. When Stanley's family, who had responsibility for his estate, learned of this, they complained to the bank that it had acted negligently because it should have seen that Stanley lacked the capacity to make such a decision so near his death, and that his partner was financially abusing him. They said Stanley's funds should have dispersed in accordance with his will. They wanted the funds returned to Stanley's sole name or frozen while the matter was investigated.

Published:

January 2025

The bank maintained it acted on a clear instruction from Stanley and there was nothing to suggest he lacked the capacity to make such a decision or acted under duress.

Our investigation

Stanley called the bank shortly before the visit to say he wanted to add his partner to his accounts as a signatory only. He said he was dying and was trying to arrange his affairs, adding that "in a short time, it's going to be going all over to her anyway". During the visit, he added her as a joint owner, not as a signatory as previously indicated. We interviewed the staff member who processed the request and also reviewed the CCTV footage of the visit. We were satisfied the bank acted with reasonable care and skill.

The meeting lasted more than an hour. The staff member explained that adding his partner as a signatory would not achieve his intention of passing the funds in his accounts to his partner on his death. The way to do that was by adding her as an account owner. Throughout the meeting, there was nothing to suggest Stanley lacked the necessary capacity or was under any pressure from his partner. Both were of a similar age and had been together for more than 15 years. In such circumstances, there was no need for the bank to scrutinise his request or their relationship.