How a separation could affect your finances

Once you and your former partner have agreed to separate your joint finances, we can arrange for the closure of any joint accounts, and open new accounts in your individual sole names if you wish.

The joint account can be closed in accordance with the signing instruction unless you're in dispute and the account is frozen. If that's the case, we will need instructions from both of you to close the joint account and direct how its remaining balance should be settled.

You'll also need to consider the following:

• If you've set up direct debits such as autopay or standing instructions on the joint account, they will be terminated upon account closure. You will have to set them up again with either of your individual sole name accounts if you wish to maintain the direct debits.
• If you're expecting any funds coming into your account, such as insurance reimbursement or rental income, you should also be sure to provide the payers with your new account details.
• If the joint account closed is an HSBC Premier Elite, HSBC Premier or HSBC One account, you’ll need to individually meet the eligibility criteria if you choose to open one of these accounts in your own name. Any accounts or credit facilities will be reassessed on your individual income and outgoings at the time of application. This means that you may lose some of the benefits or features you had that were associated with the account. You can find out more on the eligibility criteria and the benefits for HSBC Premier Elite, HSBC Premier and HSBC One.
• If you hold any Premier Junior Pack, it will be closed when you close the linked Premier account. For any other children accounts for your child, you will have to decide whether to keep or close those accounts as well.
  

If your former partner is an additional credit cardholder on your credit card account, you can change this setting. Please note that you will be liable for the spending on the additional credit card until you remove this additional cardholder. You can do this by contacting our hotline or visiting the HSBC branch that is most convenient for you.

If you decide to change your settings or remove your additional cardholder, you should let them know as they might rely on the card for day-to-day spending or payments to merchants. Please inform them as soon as possible to allow them enough time to apply for their new individual credit card or set up payments with another card.

Besides removing the additional cardholder, you could instead choose to temporarily block the additional card. If you don’t unblock it within 60 days, the additional card will be cancelled. You can call our hotline to arrange a temporary block.

If you are an additional cardholder on your former partner’s credit card account and you have been removed, you can apply for your own HSBC credit card for your day-to-day spending. Whether your application is successful is subject to our normal approval process. Please visit our website for more information about applying for an HSBC credit card.

If you have a joint HSBC mortgage, the first thing you should do is call us to discuss which options are suitable for your situation. You should also speak to a lawyer for formal legal advice regarding your property arrangements and your mortgage.

The crucial thing is that the regular mortgage payments need to be made, and they need to come from the repayment account registered with the bank. That account needs to have sufficient funds at all times.

If you want to change the ownership of the mortgaged property to another status, you need to make a formal request to the bank. You should be aware this will be considered as an entirely new loan request. That means the proposed new owner would need a full credit assessment, and – if the bank agrees to the request – the new mortgage might have different terms from the old one.

If your mortgage is subject to special housing schemes, you'd also need to speak with your scheme provider to find out how any change of ownership would work.

If you have a Mortgage Protection Plan, you can refer to the Life insurance section to find out about changing the mortgage holder.

If your former partner is covered under your insurance policy such as HospitalSurance or TravelSurance, you can make a request to change your policy by submitting an amendment form to the insurance company. If you'd prefer to cancel the entire policy, you can request this by submitting a cancellation form (please see Appendix for more information on this kind of change).

If you and your former partner are the joint policyholders of Fire Insurance or HomeSurance, your separation will not affect the policy as long as both of you still own the property. You can make a request to cancel the policy or amend the policyholder information by submitting a cancellation form or policy amendment form to the insurance company (please see Appendix for more information on this kind of change).

For FirstCare or FirstCare Plus Medical Insurance and AXA GI WiseGuard Medical Insurance Plan, the policyholder can make a request to transfer the ownership of the policy by completing the prescribed form and sending it to the insurance company. However, any proposed change of ownership of the policy is subject to the prior approval of the insurance company at its discretion (please see Appendix for more information on this kind of change).

For AXA GI WiseGuard Medical Insurance Plan policyholders, if your former partner is your nominated transferee, you can change / remove them by submitting a WiseGuard specific amendment form to the insurance company (please see Appendix for more information on this kind of change).

You should refer to the detailed terms of the relevant policy to make sure you comply with the insurance company’s procedural requirements. You should also contact the insurance company if you need more detailed information.

*Important note: Everything we've described here is subject to the terms of your policy. There might also be other exceptions in some circumstances. This page is just for general information. It does not constitute any legal advice. Only your own lawyer can provide legal advice to you.

If you have a life insurance policy issued by HSBC Life¹ and you have designated your former partner as a revocable beneficiary, you can submit a request to change / remove them by submitting a request to HSBC Life (provided that your policy allows this type of change). You do not need consent from the revocable beneficiary to request this change.

If you have designated your former partner as an irrevocable beneficiary, you'll need to obtain written consent from them before (i) arranging any change to the policy's ownership or (ii) any assignment of the policy to a third party.

Refer to the terms of your policy document to see if it allows revocation of a beneficiary and under what kind of circumstances (please see Appendix for more information on this kind of change).

If you are the premium payer of your former partner’s life insurance policy and you want to stop paying the premium, you can submit a Request for Policy Change form to HSBC Life. After we have received your request, we will inform your former partner (please see Appendix for more information on this kind of change).

If you are Joint Life Coverage on Mortgage Protection Plan (Plan) policyholders, you can request a change of name with proof on the change of mortgage holder by submitting a Request for Policy Change form to HSBC Life (please see Appendix for more information on this kind of change).

Be sure to refer to the detailed terms of your policy and comply with the insurance company’s procedural requirements. You should also contact the insurance company for more detailed information.

*Important note: Everything we've described here is subject to the terms of your policy. There might also be other exceptions in some circumstances. This page is just for general information. It does not constitute any legal advice. Only your own lawyer can provide legal advice to you.

If you have a joint investment account with your former partner, and have come to an agreement on how to allocate the assets, you will need an individual sole name investment account before we can transfer any assets into your individual account(s). If you do not have a sole name investment account, you will need to open one so we can proceed with the transfer. 

You and your former partner can provide instructions in accordance with the signing instruction unless you are in dispute and the account is frozen. If that is the case, you and your former partner will both need to provide instructions on how to allocate your assets and close the joint account.

Please note that some assets cannot be transferred, either within HSBC or to financial institutions outside HSBC. We recommend you visit one of our branches or call our hotline to find out if your assets can be transferred, and what sort of tariffs to expect for this.

Transferring of assets may be subject to prevailing fees and respective requirements, where applicable. If you want to transfer Hong Kong stocks (except delisted stock held in physical certificate) from your joint investment account to an HSBC sole name investment account, we currently do not levy any fees on this, but you will still have to pay the stamp duty levied by the HKSAR Government.

­Apart from Hong Kong stocks, if you hold any other investment products jointly, such as bonds or unit trusts (including a Fundmax account), you may request to transfer them to your individual investment account. This would be subject to the prevailing transfer fee and respective requirements, if any (such as individual fund house forbidding the transfer).

If your joint account is frozen but you want to sell the investment assets urgently, you may do so by visiting our branch. (For Hong Kong stocks, however, only HSBC Premier Elite and HSBC Premier customers can sell them at the branch.) Remember that we will need instructions from both you and your former partner to complete the transaction.

If you have a joint safe deposit locker, you can close the locker or remove either one of the joint lessees (owners). If you choose to close the locker, all parties will need to consent and visit the branch where your locker is located to complete a Locker Surrender and Refund of Key Deposit Form. Remember to return the locker keys so that we can refund you the deposit on the keys.

If you each want to keep a locker individually, the joint locker can be converted to a sole locker for one of you, and the other can rent a new locker (if available). If you want to convert the locker to a sole locker, please visit the branch where your locker is located. To rent a new locker, you can visit any of our branches with safe deposit lockers. You can use the Branch Locator to see the most convenient branches for you.