My specific bank requires that me and my wife agree to cancel joint ownership. In other words, if I wanted to do it, she has to know about it. I'm not trying to steal her money, I'm just worried that she will steal mine, so I need to move the money I have so I can break my lease quickly. If I open a new checking account, does it automatically add her as a joint owner? Is there any way she will know of it? I just need to make a new checking account, move the funds in the other ones and then destroy those accounts. Does this process work? Has anyone else done it for the sake of not having their spouse initially know about the switch?