I'm not sure if this is the best board for this question but here goes... My wife and I have had a shared bank account for most of our married life. We recently heard that in the event of one of the partners dying, the shared account may not be accessible to the surviving partner for some time because of probate restrictions.

First of all I don't know if this is true but if so, how should one arrange ones affairs to minimise the effect of such a situation? Our shared account currently has all the Direct Debits etc that manage normal affairs and I'm reluctant to change things unneccessarily. I'd appreciate comment and advice.
Morgan