Understanding the Downsides of Joint Ownership

March 26, 2025

Many people add family members or spouses as joint owners of bank accounts, real estate, or investments to simplify estate planning and avoid probate. While joint ownership can offer convenience and asset access, it also presents serious risks that can lead to financial disputes, tax liabilities and legal challenges. Understanding the downsides of joint ownership is essential before making decisions that could impact your estate and beneficiaries.

What Is Joint Ownership?

Joint ownership means that two or more people share legal ownership of an asset. There are different forms of joint ownership, each with unique rights and implications. Some common types of joint ownership include:

Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship (JTWROS) – If one owner dies, the other owner(s) automatically inherit the asset. Common among spouses.
Tenancy in Common – Each owner holds a separate, distinct share of the property. Shares can be passed down in a will instead of automatically transferring to co-owners.
Tenancy by the Entirety – A unique form of joint ownership for married couples that offers protection from creditors in some states.
Joint Ownership of Bank Accounts – Gives all owners full access to funds, even if one person contributed all the money.

While these arrangements may seem beneficial, they can create unintended financial and legal consequences.

The Risks of Joint Ownership

1. Loss of Full Control Over the Asset

Adding a co-owner means you no longer have sole decision-making power. If you own property or an account jointly, the other person:

Must approve any sale or significant financial decision
Can legally withdraw funds or take actions you may disagree with
May refuse to cooperate in estate planning decisions

For example, if you add an adult child to your house deed, you cannot sell or refinance the home without their approval. If your relationship changes, legal conflicts may arise.

2. Exposure to the Co-Owner’s Debts and Liabilities

If a joint owner has debt, gets sued, or divorces, creditors can go after jointly owned assets. This means:

A co-owner’s financial troubles can result in liens or judgments against your property
The asset may be subject to seizure by creditors or division in a divorce settlement
You could lose control over the asset due to someone else’s financial mistakes

This is particularly risky when adding children or relatives with unstable finances or creditor issues.

3. Unintended Tax Consequences

Joint ownership can create tax problems, especially when transferring assets. Common tax issues include:

Capital gains taxes – If a property or investment is sold, the IRS may assess capital gains based on the original purchase price, not the market value at death.
Gift tax liability – Adding someone as a joint owner may be considered a taxable gift, requiring IRS reporting if it exceeds the gift tax exemption limit.
Loss of step-up in basis – Heirs who inherit assets outright get a “step-up” in tax basis to current market value, reducing capital gains taxes. With joint ownership, this benefit may be lost.

Without proper estate planning, heirs may owe more in taxes than necessary.

4. Complications in Estate Planning

Many people use joint ownership to avoid probate. However, this strategy can backfire. Risks include:

Disinheriting intended beneficiaries – If one joint owner survives, they get full ownership—even if your will says otherwise.
Unequal distribution of assets – If you own multiple assets jointly with different people, some heirs may receive more than intended.
Legal disputes – Family members may contest asset distribution if joint ownership conflicts with your will.

A well-structured trust or beneficiary designation often provides a more reliable way to pass down assets.

When Joint Ownership Might Be Appropriate

Despite its risks, joint ownership can be helpful in certain situations. For instance, it’s suitable if you trust the co-owner completely and want them to have full rights to the asset. There are also few drawbacks if the asset has minimal value or no tax consequences or if both parties contribute equally to the asset.

In most cases, estate planning tools such as trusts, payable-on-death accounts, or transfer-on-death deeds provide greater protection and control.

Protect Your Assets with Smart Estate Planning

While joint ownership may seem easy, it often creates more problems than it solves. Understanding the downsides of joint ownership is essential before making decisions that could impact your estate and beneficiaries. Before adding someone to your assets, it’s essential to consider the legal, financial and tax consequences. If you would like to learn more about joint ownership, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Investopedia (March 02, 2024) “Joint Tenancy: Benefits and Pitfalls”

Image by Joshua Choate

Pitfalls of Gifting and Joint Ownership

June 19, 2023

As with many things related to estate planning, do-it-yourself solutions appearing to be fast and easy fixes often become problems for parents and their children. Trying to simplify asset protection by gifting is loaded with risks, says a recent article, “SENIOR SCENE | Pitfalls of gifting and joint ownership of assets” from The Sentinel-Record. There can be many pitfalls of gifting and joint ownership.

Most notably, the laws governing eligibility for Medicaid used for nursing home care require a 60-month “look-back” period, where any transfer of assets for any reason makes the person ineligible for Medicaid benefits up to 60 months or even longer from the date the gift was made.

Secondly, creditors of the person making a gift could claim any transfer was a fraudulent transfer made in an attempt to defeat the rights of creditors to make a claim. Both parent and child could end up in costly, time-consuming litigation over creditor claims.

Third, and perhaps most problematic, is the chance for the child’s creditors to attach the assets in order to satisfy a claim against the child. This could also occur if the child is embroiled in a divorce—the assets could be considered a marital asset by the court.

Gifting assets was a popular estate planning strategy to reduce or eliminate estate taxes in the past. Nevertheless, in light of the very high current federal estate tax exemptions, this is only used for some families.

Another disadvantage of gifting is the transfer of tax cost basis from the parent to the child for capital gains tax purposes. As a result, the child would be forced to pay capital gains taxes on the increase in value from the parent’s tax cost—typically the original purchase price—versus the ultimate sales price.

Contrast this with a child who inherits an asset at death from a parent. When the child inherits the asset at death, the asset receives a step-up in tax basis to its date-of-death value. This is one of the most favorable tax rules remaining, which is lost when gifting during life is used.

Another problem occurs when seniors make assets jointly owned, especially bank accounts. The bank often encourages this, trying to be helpful so the child may pay the parents’ bills. However, by placing the child’s name on the account, the parent may be subjecting their account to potential creditor claims of their children.

In addition, the jointly owned account passes only to the surviving owner, so the estate plan may be circumvented by having the assets in the account pass to the one child rather than passing to all the remaining trust under a will or trust.

An estate plan created by an experienced estate planning attorney can eliminate many pitfalls of gifting and joint ownership. Before making gifts or establishing joint accounts, meet with an estate planning attorney to learn how to achieve your goals, including planning for Medicaid, without putting your assets at risk. If you would like to learn more about asset protection, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: The Sentinel-Record (May 28, 2023) “SENIOR SCENE | Pitfalls of gifting and joint ownership of assets”

Estate Planning is a Personal Process

December 27, 2022

It’s a question that some couples should ask. For many, their estate is their estate together, right? Not always. There are benefits to using the same estate planning attorney. However, there may be reasons to use different attorneys, as discussed in the article “Should My Spouse and I Hire the Same Estate Lawyer?” from The Street. When it comes down to it, estate planning is a personal process.

If your estates are relatively simple and your interests are the same, it does make sense to use the same estate planning attorney. If there’s no need for sophisticated tax planning, yours is a first marriage with no children, or you own one piece of property, one attorney can represent both partners.

It’s important to understand joint representation. This means both partners and the attorney agree to share all information learned from one spouse with the other spouse. These terms are often outlined in the engagement letter signed when the attorney is retained.

However, life and marriages are not always so simple. Let’s say that one spouse owns property or a share of property in another state purchased before the marriage and not co-owned with the spouse. This often occurs when property is owned by members of the spouse’s immediate family, like a business property or a vacation home they own jointly with siblings or parents. It may also be property one spouse is likely to inherit with the expectation the property ownership remains solely with bloodline family members.

Note that owning property in another state will likely also require the services of another estate planning attorney who is familiar with the local laws. The out-of-state attorney can advise if there are any special planning considerations needed, such as placing property in a family-controlled entity, like a limited liability company or other family partnership.

Coordinating communication between the out-of-state attorney and the primary in-state attorney will be important, since there may be interrelated planning considerations to be addressed in wills or trusts.

What if you and your spouse have different communication styles? One wants a talkative attorney who wants to dive into long-term planning goals, engaging in discussions about building a legacy, while the other wants documents prepared, signed and executed, minus any big picture conversations.

A simple solution would be for each spouse to identify an attorney at the same firm who matches their personal style.

Another reason for using different estate planning attorneys is if one wants to use a “floating spouse” provision, which can cause some feelings to arise. This is a provision defining a “spouse” as the person you are married to at the time of death. If there’s a divorce and the prior spouse would have had a vested interest in property, the floating spouse provision affords another layer of protection to keep assets to the spouse at the time of death.

There are non-divorce related reasons for the floating spouse provision. If an irrevocable trust is created to benefit the spouse, the ability to make changes to the trust can be challenging, time consuming and costly. With a floating spouse provision, the prior spouse is removed as a beneficiary and the new spouse could be easily substituted. In this case, independent counsel is advised, as interests are considered legally adverse.

Estate planning is a personal process and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. If any part of the estate creates adverse interests, joint representation may not work. However, when the estate is relatively simple and the couple’s goals are the same, having a spouse by your side during the planning process could give each of you the incentive to take care of this very important task. If you would like to learn more about estate planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: The Street (Nov. 30, 2022) “Should My Spouse and I Hire the Same Estate Lawyer?”

Steps to Ensure a Smooth Probate

December 7, 2022

What can you do to help heirs have a smooth transition when settling your estate? Probate can be a costly and time consuming process. There are steps you can take to ensure a smooth probate. A recent article from The Community Voice, “Managing probate when setting up your estate,” provides some recommendations.

Joint accounts. Married couples can own property as joint tenancy, which includes a right of survivorship. When one of the spouses dies, the other becomes the owner and the asset doesn’t have to go through probate. In some states, this is called tenancy by the entirety, in which married spouses each own an undivided interest in the whole property with the right of survivorship. They need content from the other spouse to transfer their ownership interest in the property. Some states allow community property with right of survivorship.

There are some vulnerabilities to joint ownership. A potential heir could claim the account is not a “true” joint account, but a “convenience” account whereby the second account owner was added solely for financial expediency. The joint account arrangement with right of survivorship may also not align with the estate plan.

Payment on Death (POD) and Transfer on Death (TOD) accounts. These types of accounts allow for easy transfer of bank accounts and securities. If the original owner lives, the named beneficiary has no right to claim account funds. When the original owner dies, all the named beneficiary need do is bring proper identification and proof of the owner’s death to claim the assets. This also needs to align with the estate plan to ensure that it achieves the testator’s wishes.

Gifting strategies. In 2022, taxpayers may gift up to $16,000 to as many people as you wish before owing taxes. This is a straight-forward way to reduce the taxable estate. Gifts over $ 16,000 may be subject to federal gift tax and count against your lifetime gift tax exclusion. The lifetime individual gift tax exemption is currently at $12.06 million, although few Americans need worry about this level.

Revocable living trusts. Trusts are used to take assets out of the taxable estate and place them in a separate legal entity having specific directions for asset distributions. A living trust, established during your lifetime, can hold whatever assets you want. A “pour-over will” may be used to add additional assets to the trust at death, although the assets “poured over” into the trust at death are still subject to probate.

The trust owns the assets. However, with a revocable living trust, the grantor (the person who created the trust) has full control of the assets. When the grantor dies, the trust becomes an irrevocable trust and assets are distributed by a successor trustee without being probated. This provides privacy for the beneficiary and saves on court costs.

Trusts are not for do-it-yourselfers. An experienced estate planning attorney is needed to create the trust and ensure that it follows complex tax rules and regulations. Taking the steps needed to ensure you have a smooth probate process will give you peace of mind. If you would like to learn more about the probate process, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: The Community Voice (Nov. 11, 2022) “Managing probate when setting up your estate”

Photo by Ksenia Chernaya

The Estate of The Union Season 4|Episode 1

The Estate of The Union Season 2 Episode 3 is out now!

September 30, 2022

The Estate of The Union Season 2, Episode 3 – Mis-Titled Assets Can Wreck Your Planning is out now!

Almost everyone thinks that once they have a Will or Living trust in place, they are set when the unthinkable happens. Unfortunately, that ain’t always so!

The way in which you take title to assets can affect your estate, taxes and perhaps the disposition of the asset if a couple divorces. In our latest edition of our Podcast, The Estate of the Union, Brad Wiewel explores what MUST happen behind the scenes to make the estate plan happen! It’s not just the documents, it’s aligning your assets with the plan – which is called “Funding.” And if this part gets screwed-up, it’s a train wreck that may happen the minute someone passes away or becomes incapacitated.

We’ve got sixteen other episodes posted and more to come. We hope you will enjoy them enough to share it with others. These are available on Apple, Spotify and other podcast outlets.

In each episode of The Estate of The Union podcast, host and lawyer Brad Wiewel will give valuable insights into the confusing world of estate planning, making an often daunting subject easier to understand. It is Estate Planning Made Simple! The Estate of The Union Season 2, Episode 3 – Mis-Titled Assets Can Wreck Your Planning can be found on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or anywhere you get your podcasts. If you would prefer to watch the video version, please visit our YouTube page. Please click on the link below to listen to the new installment of The Estate of The Union podcast. We hope you enjoy it.

Texas Trust Law focuses its practice exclusively in the area of wills, probate, estate planning, asset protection, and special needs planning. Brad Wiewel is Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. We provide estate planning services, asset protection planning, business planning, and retirement exit strategies.

The Risks of Creating Your Own Estate Plan

September 7, 2022

Everyone should have an estate plan and it is wise to consult an estate planning attorney to create your plan. But not everyone wants to take the time. Some even feel they can do it just fine themselves. We call it the brother-in-law syndrome: your brother-in-law knows everything, even though he doesn’t. He tells anyone who’ll listen how much money he’s saved by doing things himself. Sadly, it’s the family who has to make things right after the do-it-yourself estate plan fails. This is the message from a recent article titled “Dangers of Do-It-Yourself Estate Planning” from Coastal Breeze News. It is vital that you understand the risks of creating your own estate plan.

Online estate planning documents are dangerous for what they leave out. An estate plan prepared by an experienced estate planning attorney takes care of the individual while they are living, as well as taking care of distributing assets after they die. Many online forms are available. However, they are often limited to wills, and an estate plan is far more than a last will and testament.

An estate planning attorney knows you need a will, power of attorney, health care power of attorney, a living will and possibly trusts. These are essential protections needed but often overlooked by the do-it-yourselfer.

A Power of Attorney allows you to name a person to manage your personal affairs, if you are incapacitated. It allows your agent to handle your banking, investments, pay bills and take care of your property. There is no one-size-fits-all Power of Attorney. You may wish to give a spouse the power to take over most of your accounts. However, you might also want someone else to be in charge of selling your shares in a business. A Power of Attorney drafted by an estate planning attorney will be created to suit your unique needs. POAs also vary by state, so one purchased online may not be valid in your jurisdiction.

You also need a Health Care Power of Attorney or a Health Care Surrogate. This is a person named to make medical decisions for you, if you are too sick or injured to do so. These documents also vary by state,. There’s no guarantee that a general form will be accepted by a healthcare provider. An estate planning attorney will create a valid document.

A Living Will is, and should be, a very personalized document to reflect your wishes for end-of-life care. Some people don’t want any measures taken to keep them alive if they are in a vegetative state, for instance, while others want to be kept alive as long as there is evidence of brain activity. Using a standard form negates your ability to make your wishes known.

If the Power of Attorney, Health Care Power of Attorney or Living Will documents are not prepared properly, declared invalid or are missing, the family will need to go to court to obtain a guardianship, which is the legal right to make decisions on your behalf. Guardianships are expensive and intrusive. If your incapacity is temporary, you’ll need to undo the guardianship when you are recovered. Otherwise, you have no legal rights to conduct your own life.

DIYers are also fond of setting up property and accounts so they are Payable on Death (POD) or Transfer on Death (TOD) accounts. This only works if the beneficiaries outlive the original owner. If the beneficiary dies first, then the asset goes to the beneficiary’s children. Many financial institutions won’t actually allow certain accounts to be set up this way.

Another risk of creating your own estate plan: real estate. Putting children on the title as owners with rights of survivorship sounds like a reasonable solution. However, if the children predecease the original owner, their children will be rightful owners. If one grandchild doesn’t want to sell the property and another grandchild does, things can turn ugly and expensive. If heirs of any generation have creditors, liens may be placed on the property and no sale can happen until the liens are satisfied.

With all of these sleight of hand attempts at DIY estate planning comes the end all of all problems: taxes.

When children are added to a title, it is considered a gift and the children’s ownership interest is taxed as if they bought into the property for what the parent spent. When the parent dies and the estate is settled, the children have to pay income taxes on the difference between their basis and what the property sells for. It is better if the children inherit the property, as they’d get a step-up in basis and avoid the income tax problem.

Finally, there’s the business of putting all the assets into one child’s name, with the handshake agreement they’ll do the right thing when the time comes. There’s no legal recourse if the child decides not to share according to the parent’s verbal agreement.

Don’t take the risk of creating your own estate plan. A far easier, less complicated answer is to make an appointment with an estate planning attorney, have the correct documents created properly and walk away when your brother-in-law starts talking. If you would like to learn more about the risks of DIY planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Coastal Breeze News (Aug. 4, 2022) “Dangers of Do-It-Yourself Estate Planning”

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko

Way you Title Assets has an Impact on your Estate

August 22, 2022

The way you title your assets has an impact on your estate plan. FedWeek’s recent article entitled “How Assets Are Titled Can Make a Big Difference” discusses the different ways property may be titled, and the significance of each one.

The way in which you take title to assets can affect your estate, taxes and perhaps the disposition of the asset if a couple divorces. Many couples want assets to be titled simply in the event something happens to one, so the other spouse can take possession immediately without taxes or complications. Joint ownership may be the simplest way to meet most of these objectives. However, this can get complicated if any number of things happen, such as divorce, second marriage, children from multiple marriages, adoption and blended families of all types.

It’s critical to be educated on the different types of ownership, so you know when a change may be needed. Here are the main options:

Holding Assets in Your Own Name is simple and inexpensive. However, if you become incompetent, those assets might be mismanaged. At your death, individually owned assets may have to go through probate.

Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship is when one co-owner dies, all assets held this way automatically pass to the survivor. One joint owner can take over if the other is incapacitated, and jointly held assets don’t go through probate.

Tenants in Common means there’s a divided interest, although none of the owners may claim to own a specific part of the property. At the death of one of the joint owners, the share owned by the deceased must pass through their will to determine ownership. The surviving joint owner doesn’t automatically own the entirety of assets.

Tenancy by the Entirety is a type of joint ownership similar to rights of survivorship for married couples. It lets spouses own property together as a single legal entity. Ownership can’t be separated, which means creditors of an individual spouse may not attach and sell the property. Only creditors of the couple may make claims against the property.

With Entity Ownership, you might create a trust, a partnership (such as a family limited partnership), or a limited liability company (LLC) to hold assets. These entities may provide protection from creditors and tax benefits.

Community Property may only be used by married couples in community property states (Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin). Each person owns an undivided interest in the entire property. When a spouse dies, the survivor automatically receives the entire interest, so there’s no need for probate. Community property can’t be controlled by a person’s will or trust.

Remember, the way you title your assets has an impact on your overall estate plan. Ask an experienced estate planning attorney to review your estate plan and how assets are titled. If you would like to learn more about titling your assets, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: FedWeek (July 27, 2022) “How Assets Are Titled Can Make a Big Difference”

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Portability can be used to Protect Farm

May 10, 2022

When one of the spouses dies, the surviving spouse can make what is known as a portability election. This means that any unused federal gift or estate tax exemption can be transferred from the deceased spouse to the surviving spouse. Portability can be used to protect the family farm.

Ag Web’s recent article entitled “It’s So Important to Elect ‘Portability’ for Your Farm Estate” explains that this is an election that has to be made proactively, after the death of the first spouse.

You’ll have to file a Form 706 federal estate tax return within two years of death at the latest, even though there’s no tax owed. Under current federal law, portability is available for farm couples to implement through the end of 2025. This the opportunity then “sunsets,” and the provision will no longer be available.

This could really be a multi-million-dollar mistake, if it’s not elected.

Even after two years, the surviving spouse can elect portability (through the end of 2025). However, he or she will incur considerable expense in the process.

You can still file for it, but you’ll pay a user fee that costs about $12,000. You’ll then have to pay an attorney to prepare the paperwork, and that’s probably another $10,000 to $15,000.

As a result, you’re going to pay between $25,000 and $50,000. However, if you’d just filed it within two years of your spouse’s death, you could have avoided those expenses.

Before portability was an option, it was common for husbands and wives to each own about the same amount of assets, or at least the amount of assets that could fully soak up and use each person’s exemption.

Therefore, many farm families are used to seeing farms titled one-half with the husband, one-half to the wife – as tenants in common not husband and wife jointly. That is because in the old days, if you didn’t use the wife’s exemption to cover her assets (if she died first), it would just expire.

Now, with portability, all the assets can flow through to the surviving spouse.

At the first spouse’s death, the survivor files that portability election and then has two exemptions to cover assets. Speak with an estate planning attorney to decide if portability can be used by your family to protect the farm for generations. If you would like to learn more about portability, and other strategies to protect the family farm or ranch, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Ag Web (April 18, 2022) “It’s So Important to Elect ‘Portability’ for Your Farm Estate”

Estate Planning complicated by Property in Two States

April 12, 2022

Estate planning can be complicated by property in two states. Cleveland Jewish News’ recent article titled “Use attorney when considering multi-state estate plan” says that if a person owns real estate or other tangible property (like a boat) in another state, they should think about creating a trust that can hold all their real estate. You don’t need one for each state. You can assign or deed their property to the trust, no matter where the property is located.

Some inherited assets require taxes be paid by the inheritors. Those taxes are determined by the laws of the state in which the asset is located.

A big mistake that people frequently make is not creating a trust. When a person fails to do this, their assets will go to probate. Some other common errors include improperly titling the property in their trust or failing to fund the trust. When those things occur, ancillary probate is required. This means a probate estate needs to be opened in the other state. As a result, there may be two probate estates going on in two different states, which can mean twice the work and expense, as well as twice the stress.

Having two estates going through probate simultaneously in two different states can delay the time it takes to close the probate estate.

There are some other options besides using a trust to avoid filing an ancillary estate. Most states let an estate holder file a “transfer on death affidavit,” also known as a “transfer on death deed” or “beneficiary deed” when the asset is real estate. This permits property to go directly to a beneficiary without needing to go through probate.

A real estate owner may also avoid probate by appointing a co-owner with survivorship rights on the deed. Do not attempt this without consulting an attorney.

If you have real estate, like a second home, in another state (and) you die owning that individually, you’re going to have to probate that in the state where it’s located. It is usually best to avoid probate in multiple jurisdictions, and also to avoid probate altogether.

A co-owner with survivorship is an option for avoiding probate. If there’s no surviving spouse, or after the first one dies, you could transfer the estate to their revocable trust.

Estate planning can be complicated by property in two states. Each state has different requirements. If you’re going to move to another state or have property in another state, you should consult with a local estate planning attorney. If you would like to learn more about managing real estate in your estate planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Cleveland Jewish News (March 21, 2022) “Use attorney when considering multi-state estate plan”

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What a Will Can and Cannot Do

November 18, 2021

Everyone needs a will. A last will and testament is how an executor is named to manage your estate, how a guardian is named to care for any minor children and how you give directions for distribution of property. However, not all property passes via your will. You’ll want to know what a will can and cannot do, as well as how assets are distributed outside of a will. This was the topic of “The Legal Limits of Your Will” from AARP Magazine.

Retirement and Pension Accounts

The beneficiaries named on retirement accounts, including 401(k)s, pensions, and IRAs, receive these assets directly. Some states have laws about requiring spouses to receive some or all assets. However, if you don’t keep these beneficiary names updated, the wrong person may receive the asset, like it or not. Don’t expect anyone to willingly give up a surprise windfall. If a primary beneficiary has died and no contingency beneficiary was named, the recipient may also be determined by default terms, which may not be what you have in mind.

Life Insurance Policies.

The beneficiary designations on an insurance policy determine who will receive proceeds upon your death. Laws vary by state, so check with an estate planning attorney to learn what would happen if you died without updating life insurance policies. A simpler strategy is to create a list of all of your financial accounts, determine how they are distributed and update names as necessary.

Note there are exceptions to all rules. If your divorce agreement includes a provision naming your ex as the sole beneficiary, you may not have an option to make a change.

Financial Accounts

Adding another person to your bank account through various means—Payable on Death (POD), Transfer on Death (TOD), or Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship (JTWROS)—may generally override a will, but may not be acceptable for all accounts, or to all financial institutions. There are unanticipated consequences of transferring assets this way, including the simplest: once transferred, assets are immediately vulnerable to creditors, divorce proceedings, etc.

Trusts

Trusts are used in estate planning to remove assets from a personal estate and place them in safekeeping for beneficiaries. Once the assets are properly transferred into the trust, their distribution and use are defined by the trust document. The flexibility and variety of trusts makes this a key estate planning tool, regardless of the value of the assets in the estate.

Take the time to sit down with an experienced estate planning attorney who help you understand the limitations of what a will can and cannot do. If you would like to read more about wills and how they are structured, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: AARP Magazine (Sep. 29, 2021) “The Legal Limits of Your Will”

Category: JTWROS

Understanding the Downsides of Joint Ownership

Pitfalls of Gifting and Joint Ownership

Estate Planning is a Personal Process

Steps to Ensure a Smooth Probate

The Estate of The Union Season 2 Episode 3 is out now!

The Risks of Creating Your Own Estate Plan

Way you Title Assets has an Impact on your Estate

Portability can be used to Protect Farm

Estate Planning complicated by Property in Two States

What a Will Can and Cannot Do

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