NO you cannot...

[bankworking]

NO you cannot cash a check off of an account that you are not on. It doesn't matter if the account belongs to your husband. If he wants you to be able to cash checks off of his account, the two of you will need to have your name added to the account.

Speaking of which:

NO you cannot add yourself to your husband/wife's account. I don't care how long you've been married. It also does not matter that you have another account that is joint. THIS account is an individual account until the account owner authorizes adding you as a joint owner.

Going along with this theme:

NO, you may not add someone else to your account without that person signing the account agreement agreeing to be added. Why? Because you would be able to deposit THEIR checks into YOUR account if their name was on the account, so we have to have written documentation that this is authorized.


Other no-no's:

I understand that you are listed as the pay-on-death beneficiary on the account. Yes, this means that you do not have to go to probate for the funds in this account. HOWEVER, we do still require legal proof that the owner of the account is actually dead, otherwise known as a death certificate, before we can release the funds.

No, you cannot open an account without a government issued PICTURE ID.

No, a student ID doesn't count.

No, credit cards in your name do not count.

No, not a social security card either. Because it doesn't have your picture on it.

NO we cannot accept an ID that is expired.

I'm very sorry that your driver's license was taken away from you for failing to show proof of insurance. Hey, is that your car parked out there that you drove here all by yourself?

If your husband cannot come in to sign the account agreement, I CAN allow you to take it home for him to sign. HOWEVER, his signature will need to be notarized and we will need a copy of his government issued photo ID. NO, it cannot be expired!


Most people get the basic rules. Most people...

[bankworking]

As a quick add on:

NO you cannot open up a business account for Avon. (or any of the other various home-party companies that allow various people to sell the company's merchandise for them). Why? Because you do not own the company. You do not even own a franchise in the company. And, if I'm not mistaken, it is specifically against the agreement that you signed with them for you to negotiate checks made payable to said company.

[Midnight_Angel]

Hmm... it always worked fine if my brother / my parents signed preliminary account agreements for me, taking the paperwork home so I could sign things when I was there.

Then again, our bank person knows all of us personally, for some fifteen years by now...

[bankworking]

Hmm... it always worked fine if my brother / my parents signed preliminary account agreements for me, taking the paperwork home so I could sign things when I was there.

Then again, our bank person knows all of us personally, for some fifteen years by now...

Sure, some things can be made easier if we know the people involved. Partially because, if we know them, we should already have their signatures on file. I can skip the notary of the signature if we already have that person's signature on file. Won't do that for someone we don't have a history with, however, because signatures can be forged, and all withdrawals are based off of the signature on that opening account agreement.


With the number of divorce cases out there, we absolutely cannot make an exception to getting the correct signatures on the account in my first three examples. I've seen enough bad cases where a jilted spouse empties a joint account. That we can do nothing about... they are on the account, they have the right to withdrawal the money. Have to talk to your divorce lawyer about what you can do, if anything. But could you imagine if it turned out that the spouse was never properly authorized to be on the account?

[PepperElf]

oo yeah divorce cases

use to be standard practice that a woman using a man's credit card must be his wife & must be authorized to use it

then stores started wising up when they figured out that women steal too, and that wives (and husbands) sometimes abuse the spouse's credit cards as divorce-revenge

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I ran into this a lot with cell phone accounts. People just could not get it through their heads that we couldn't magically give them information on an account they are not on. I don't care if the account holder is your daughter cousin best friend or step dad. My favorite was the guy who told me I legally had to give him access because he was a lawyer and I could be arrested if I didn't. Yeah right any real lawyer would know that is a bunch of bs.

[Midnight_Angel]

Hmm... does this 'no information about your daughter's account' policy still hold true if she's underage? Just curious...

[EricKei]

Good question. I would imagine that, in such a case, a parent/guardian would have been required to be a co-account holder when it was set up, thus avoiding the problem.

[bankworking]

Hmm... does this 'no information about your daughter's account' policy still hold true if she's underage? Just curious...

If an underage individual opens up an account on their own (need to be able to sign their own name and have a valid, government issued photo ID) then, no, we will not divulge information to the parents. Now, as the child's legal guardians, it is possible that they could go to a judge and be given access to that account, but we will not grant that access by default.

Actually had trouble with that one time when the parents thought it would be good to allow their 9 and 10 year old daughters to open accounts without the parents as co-signers (parents were military, so kids had dependent id's, and both were able to sign their names...better than some adults). Then the parents got assigned elsewhere, mother and kids moved ahead while the father wrapped up affairs, only to discover we couldn't allow him to close down the kids' accounts. Had to have the kids write and sign letters (which were faxed to us) requesting that the accounts be closed before we could issue checks payable to the kids names.

[Zellie Crescent]

I'm very sorry that your driver's license was taken away from you for failing to show proof of insurance. Hey, is that your car parked out there that you drove here all by yourself?

Do I hear a tow truck pulling up?
Sorry, couldn't resist I'm in kind of an evil mood today.

[Magpie]

If an underage individual opens up an account on their own (need to be able to sign their own name and have a valid, government issued photo ID) then, no, we will not divulge information to the parents. Now, as the child's legal guardians, it is possible that they could go to a judge and be given access to that account, but we will not grant that access by default.

That's probably going to depend on jurisdiction then, because there are locations where minors cannot enter into contracts (your post is actually the first I knew that it wasn't standard).

[bankworking]

That's probably going to depend on jurisdiction then, because there are locations where minors cannot enter into contracts (your post is actually the first I knew that it wasn't standard).

If they are underage, we cannot open a checking account, and the account has no overdraft tolerance as the child cannot be held liable if the account were to go negative, but we can open a basic savings for them.

Could be different in other areas. I work at a local institution, so I don't know much about rules outside of the area my work serves.

I remember having my own savings when I was a kid. No parents on it. Didn't need an ID to open the account back then either.... okay, I'm starting to feel old now.