My 62-year-old husband died after a short illness, leaving us little time to prepare our finances. Our joint bank account is frozen — what can I do now?

Let’s say a woman’s 62-year-old husband died after a brief illness. Since it came on suddenly, the couple didn’t have time to prepare their finances. So, when the woman went to access funds in their joint bank account to pay for funeral expenses, she discovered that the bank had frozen the account.

This can happen for several reasons. For example, even if the bank is aware of the owner’s death, they could freeze the account if they haven’t been notified directly by the family. Luckily, this situation can be easily remedied by calling the bank and providing them with a death certificate.

But what are some of the other reasons a spouse may find themselves locked out of their account — and what can they do about it?

Rights of survivorship may not be automatic

One reason an account might be frozen is that it doesn’t have joint tenancy with right of survivorship (JTWROS) — a legal arrangement that applies to individuals who share a financial account or other asset.

In this case, upon learning of the account owner’s death, the bank will freeze the account until the probate court appoints someone as a representative with access to the account.

When an account has JTWROS, it means that, on the death of one of the joint owners of the account, the surviving owner takes over the account. This should happen without any delays and will happen even if the will specifies otherwise.

Many people believe that rights of survivorship are automatic when they first open a joint account. However, while some joint accounts do specify JTWROS out of the gate, others will only have it if you sign an additional agreement.

If you’re unsure about your own joint account(s), check with your bank so you don’t end up inadvertently losing access to it — even temporarily — in the event of your partner’s death.

One of the main advantages of JTWROS is that the assets in the account don’t have to pass through probate. This is a court-supervised process where the assets of the deceased are assigned according to the wishes outlined in their will or, if there isn’t a will, decided by the probate court according to state law.

Probate can be costly and take months or even years, so you’ll want to avoid it where possible (especially for something like a joint bank account).

If you and your spouse don’t have a joint bank account, probate can also be avoided by naming each other as beneficiaries of your separate accounts. This will allow the account to transfer directly to the survivor, although it may not be immediate as in a JTWROS agreement.

Another option is to set up a trust to hold a spouse’s assets, with the other spouse named as the successor trustee. In this case, when the main trustee dies, the successor becomes the new trustee with full access to the assets in the trust.

Plan ahead to avoid probate

Preparing an estate to avoid probate is a complex task, so you may want to consider consulting an attorney who specializes in estate matters (a financial planner or accountant may also be able to help with certain aspects).