What Happens to Savings Account When You Separate or Divorce?

Each spouse in a marriage, in Ontario, can own property along with debts in their name. When you marry someone with pre-existing assets, such as Savings Account balances, you will not necessarily co-own their savings on marriage, this asset will only belong to your spouse.

When the partner has entered into a marriage with a savings balance, the savings become a date of marriage deduction. Decreasing their net family property on separation.

Net family property is a measure of the financial progress aka gain made during the marriage from the date of marriage to the date of separation. This gain in assets of a spouse shall be considered as marital assets to be split or equalized.

It is important to understand that not all separation or divorce results in the redistribution or equalization of the properties of the spouse.

You and your spouse may choose not to split anything and keep your assets untouched. Whatever it is that you and your partner decided, disclosure is required.

Records of your and your spouse’s financial position at the date of marriage and date of separation, will help greatly with calculating the net-family property.

Your savings account records/statement will be required to satisfy disclosure and informed consent requirements while negotiating a divorce/separation settlement.

Savings Account Statement
Your Savings Account Report offers you a monthly view of your account. It contains your interest charged, your balance, your investments, and any interest received during the reporting period. There are several forms in which you can get your Savings Account statement with the financial disclosure criteria; several of these forms are normally fast and easy to obtain and fill out.

Mail
The bulk of deposit-taking organizations submit the monthly statements via fax. The paper document includes the applicable account documents, such as balance, expenses, and the amount of interest received. These statements are made accessible on the same day per month, so if you haven’t collected yours by this date, please contact your financial institution for a copy. It is always necessary to contact your financial institution whenever your address changes so that you can make sure that you collect your statements at the new address.

E-Statements
Some financial institutions offer an electronic way of delivering your statement instead of paper. Instead of delivering a written letter to you, the financial firm would deliver an email to the address you choose. The email may contain a statement as an attachment or link to access the statement online. The e-statement shall include the same material as the paper declaration.

Online Banking
Online
You can download your present and past accounts electronically when you sign up for electronic banking through a financial institution. You sign on to the lender’s site using the username and password of your preference. Normally, while on the web, you choose the “Preview Statements” button, and a list of relevant statements should appear on the page. You press the one you want to view and open it in a new browser, which is often available as a .pdf format. You can read, print, or transfer the file to a hard disk at this stage.

In-Person
When everything else fails, you should go to the address of the financial firm and order a copy of the document. Because of privacy rules, you may need to have an ID to show that you are indeed the account holder. So, after your name has been checked by the representative, they will print a copy for you. While you are there, it’s a smart idea to test the delivery system for your statements and adjust them to match your preferences better.