Joint Bank Accounts?

Question

I live in Canada and my long-term boyfriend lives in the USA. He is in the military and is going to Iraq in a week, and we have decided that we want to open a joint bank account so he can send me money if nesessary because when he gets back we will be living together in the States. My bank told me we could not open a joint account if he is not here with me to open it. Is there any way we can open one with only one person present? Or can he open one in the States? Maybe the rules are different there Im not sure.

Answer 1

i know he is your long-term boy friend but he could take all your money! come on.  

Answer 2

Have him see if he can give you power of attorney while he is gone and if so then you should be able to do it with that. I am not exactly sure if this can be done with someone that isn't a spouse but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Also have him contact someone at www.usaa.com and see if he can have an account there and add you to it. They are an on line bank and do not have any local locations so just about everything that you do with them will be done online or over the phone. They are AWESOME and do just about everything...banking, insurance, shopping, etc. You can even make deposits from your home by scanning your checks. When you take out money from other local ATM's, they will credit back $10 a month to go toward the ATM fees the other banks charge you. These are just a few of the things that you can do with them. We have had them as a bank for a few years now and I really have not had 1 bad experience. Oh...and this is a bank that only works with military families.

I hope that either of these options work for you guys.

Answer 3

I know here in the UK that both parties have to be there as id has to be presented.

If they didnt have that security then anyone could go in get an account in another persons name!

Answer 4

Look into getting a power of attorney from your boyfriend,opening a joint account does require both parties be present for proper identification here in the U.S..If you cannot get the power of attorney to work for the account,just have him transfer funds form his account to yours or he could set up a allotment for you.An allotment is funds that he can set up to have a certain amount of funds sent to you or your bank account.

Answer 5

Joint accounts means that you have to be present both of you at the bank ... in your case you said that you need the account to receive money from him if needed ... I would recommend you opening an account under your name and it would be fine for him to transfer money for you. As long as he puts a realistic reason of the transfer in the form he fills when he wants to make a transfer (as long as its not large amount of transfer it wont make a big problem).

further more, you can open an account with your name and if he is gonna be leaving and wont be present what you can do is make a lawful paper that says you give him the authorization to access your bank account information and deposit or transfer or withdraw according to your needs (that's how people used to do it where i used to work at a bank in Lebanon, and i asked about such system in USA they said it exists, so i guess it should be fine too in Canada).

The thing is with such a type of paper, he wont have his name on the bank account, but it would be easier for you and him. but you should understand what is the type of access you need to grant him on account cuz he cant use more than whats on the paper.

I recommend you ask the bank you deal with about such types of rules and laws. talk to the manager its much better and he can help you more.

Answer 6

both of you need to be present to open up a joint account.