One thing that you have to do during a divorce is close your joint bank account. There are two main reasons to do this. First, you want to take sole control of your finances moving forward and establish a personal bank account. Second, you have a right to at least a portion of the money in your shared account, so you want to ensure that your spouse does not try to take or use that money.
However, if you go to the bank and ask to withdraw the money and close the account, they may realistically believe that you are the one trying to keep the money from your spouse. This may not be your intent, of course. But this is still why some financial institutions require that both people are present to close a shared account. They want to ensure that this is actually what both account holders want and that they have communicated about the closure.
Has your spouse already hidden assets?
It’s worth noting that not all financial institutions use the same rules. Perhaps you already went to your bank to close your account and found out that your soon-to-be ex had beaten you to the punch. They’ve already started transferring money out of your account and trying to hide it away.
If you do find yourself in this situation, it’s important to know that hiding assets during a divorce is illegal. The court will ask you and your spouse to disclose what you own, and lying about those assets is a violation of your rights. Your spouse may claim that they can do whatever they want with “their” money, but you both have a right to assets earned during your marriage. If they are trying to deprive you of these assets, then you must know what legal options you have.