How to Close a Joint Bank Account After Divorce in Colorado
How to Close a Joint Bank Account After Divorce in Colorado
Your divorce decree tells you who gets what percentage of the funds. It does not close the account, freeze the cards, or prevent your ex from overdrawing the balance. Banks do not monitor divorce decrees — until you take action, both parties have full access to every joint account.
Freeze Joint Accounts Immediately
Contact your bank the same day or the day after your decree is entered and request a freeze on all joint checking and savings accounts. A freeze prevents withdrawals, transfers, and debit card charges while you arrange the formal closure.
If a freeze is not available, request that the account be converted to require dual signatures for any transaction. This prevents either party from draining the account unilaterally.
Split Funds According to Your Decree
Your separation agreement specifies how joint funds are divided. Distribute the balance exactly as the decree dictates:
- Open a new individual checking account at a different bank — not just a new account at the same institution. Same-bank accounts can be accidentally cross-linked by tellers or through shared online banking portals.
- Transfer your share of the joint funds to your new account.
- Have your ex transfer their share.
- Close the joint account entirely once the balance reaches zero.
Do not leave joint accounts open "for convenience." An open joint account means both parties remain liable for overdrafts, bounced checks, and automatic payments that continue hitting the account.
Joint Credit Cards: The Decree Does Not Protect You
This is where people get burned. Your divorce decree may assign a joint credit card balance entirely to your ex-spouse. The credit card company does not care. If both names are on the account agreement, both of you remain contractually liable. If your ex stops paying, the issuer reports the delinquency on both credit reports.
Take these steps:
- Suspend the card from further charges immediately — call the issuer and request a freeze.
- Pay off the balance using marital assets if possible. This creates a clean break.
- If payoff is not possible, the spouse assigned the debt should transfer the balance to an individual card in their name only, then close the joint account.
- Get written confirmation from the issuer that the joint account is closed and both parties are released.
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Joint Debts and Secured Liabilities
For secured debts like mortgages and auto loans, assigning the debt to one spouse in the decree does not release the other from the promissory note. The retaining spouse must refinance the debt into their sole name. Until that happens, both parties remain liable to the lender regardless of what the decree says.
Set firm refinancing deadlines in your separation agreement — typically 90 to 180 days post-decree — with a default remedy (like selling the asset) if refinancing fails.
Protecting Your Credit Score
After closing joint accounts:
- Pull your credit reports from all three bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) to verify joint accounts show as closed
- Set up credit monitoring to catch any surprise activity on accounts you thought were closed
- Consider a credit freeze if you are concerned about your ex opening new accounts using your shared information
The Colorado After-Divorce Checklist includes a joint-account worksheet that tracks every account, the assigned responsible party, closure status, and confirmation dates.
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