Aggregate CTR on Separate Spousal Withdrawals?
Answer by John Burnett, BOL Guru Guru Bios
Question: If a husband withdraws $10k from branch(A) and within minutes the wife withdraws $9K at branch (B) is an aggregate CTR required?
Answer: An aggregate CTR would be required if the bank believes that both transactions were completed on behalf of both spouses. There is an honest difference of opinion on whether a bank should, by default, deem withdrawals from a joint account to benefit both owners. The only written official guidance I've ever found on the question dates from 1995:
"For deposits, all those who are known to benefit from the transaction must be identified on the CTR. However, if a person makes a withdrawal from a joint account, only his name needs to be listed as the beneficiary of the transaction if: (1) he states that the withdrawal is on his own behalf or the financial institution knows that the person making the withdrawal is the only beneficiary, and (2) the financial institution has no reason to believe otherwise."
That suggests that, if you have no information concerning on whose behalf the withdrawals are completed, you should assume they are on both owners' behalf, and aggregate the withdrawals for CTR purposes. For what it's worth, when two account holders exhibit this sort of withdrawal pattern, structuring could be involved.
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