What do you do when you have a husband and wife getting a divorce and the husband no longer wants the wife on his account and he does not want to open a new account? Or anyone that wants to go from a joint to an individua account. Just wondering what other banks do in this situation.

We do not allow it. Must close and reopen as a single account.

ditto - is your bank willing to review every check on that account after the date he drops her name and make sure she didn't sign any of them? You will be liable if she does.

So is this in all cases where you should open a new account if someone goes off the account? What about when a business or club changes officers? Is a new account required because the bank would be liable if someone writes a check. Can we have them sign a form saying they are "off the account"?

We require the club/business to provide us with meeting minutes showing who if taken off and put on, or provide us with an updated resolution showing who the current authorized signers are.

I am not aware of any state statutes that give a consumer account owner the right to remove another account account. They have the right to close the account or withdraw all the funds (subject to signatures required, of course), but not remove another owner. I suspect the bank could be liable for losses to the individual removed from the account.

A change of authorized signers on an account (no change in ownership) should not require a close old/open new procedure. Nor should you need to close/open to drop a name when that person has died (but make sure the SSN being used for tax reporting gets checked and changed if necessary).

John...what if the wife was not only an authorized signer, but also an owner of the account?

In that case, I'd fall back to the "rule" that when you're removing a living, breathing, owner, you do it by closing the account.

Our rule was if the owners were living, close and re-open. The bank president made an exception for a gal working at the bank. And it was heck. He got into the account, old checks clearing, when was it written, etc... Too much headache.

If one person passed away we would ensure the SSAN was reporting properly and remove the other name. That was of particular interest when my mom passed and my dad had a ton of things to do that he was unfamiliar with. It seemed fine to remove one name and make life just a little simpler.