I Finally Added My Son As Co-Owner On My Accounts...

OneEyedDiva

OneEyedDiva

SF VIP
Location
New Jersey
Checking and savings at my main bank. He's already a co-owner on my credit union checking and can transfer funds from savings into checking if necessary. The bank rep, Bryan was so nice and efficient. Bryan provided us with all the information and disclaimers he was supposed to. He told me before finalizing the add to be aware that it meant my son could withdraw money at will. I told him if he did so without my permission I would break his neck! I added besides..I know where he lives. My son chimed in saying that at 54 years old he's still afraid of me. :LOL: And the laughter began.

I wanted to get this done in case I become very ill, can't transact business for myself and need at home care. My son maintains that he'd never put me in a nursing home. Although my health plan (Aetna PPO) pays for 35 hours a week of at home care for an unlimited time, if I need more obviously that's out of pocket. Also after I pass, it will be easier for him to pay whatever is left to be paid. He also has POA on one of my brokerage accounts and I'm planning to just go ahead and give him POA on the others. Obviously I have tremendous trust in my child. Adding him necessitated us choosing other POD beneficiaries for those accounts.

Bryan seemed to anticipate my questions and answered them before I even asked. One thing I wanted to know was if my son would have his own login so we could both set up two factor identification. I hadn't done it at that bank because sometimes he needed to login for me and may not have had access to my phone. So the answer was yes and his login was set up while we were sitting there. I'm not getting any younger and I felt it was time to get this done. When I told my sister, she said she had already done this with her two children who are also very trustworthy. @Pecos
 

I have set up all my accounts as POD for son at this point. If my health goes south I will add him to my accounts so he can pay my bills, transfer funds etc. If it gets really bad he is already set up as my POA when the time comes.

I understand about the nursing home/care. I also promised my Mom she would never have to go into care. She came to live with me at 85. Prior to that, she had already bought a home one block over, next corner from me, so it was easy for us to just walk around and help, take here home made meals, etc. When she came to live with me, it was after a fall. She got well, went home for about a week. Called and said she wanted to come back. I think she got used to being treated like a queen as she deserved. So we sold the house in 4 days and she came here.

Everything went great. I enjoyed having her here with me, loved spoiling her, cooking her meals etc. After that first year, dementia came in fast and hard. I could keep up with everything, bathing, dressing, etc....made sure she ate well, gave medication. The thing was I could not keep her safe at night. She would get up and fall.

There were many injuries during the night time. Broken bones, brain bleeds etc. My sister and I came to the realization that I could no longer keep her at home safely. She was placed into assisted living about a mile from my home. It was very nice, they had very good food and she was well taken care of but it still bothers me that I could not keep my promise.

I would say for me, I have told my son that if I can not stay at home to place me in care not only for me but also for him. I do not want him to have the pressure or burden of my promise to my Mom. It is hard to break that promise but sometimes must be done. I guess God stepped in because she did not really know what had to done. She settled in her new home quite well.
 
I know you guys are cautious and setting up your accounts with a co-owner can really help. My father did that towards the end of his life and it made my sister's job much easier after that. She paid all his bills the last few months of his life - under his supervision. The other two of us also encouraged her to keep whatever was left in the account for all her efforts! We were super lucky that she is honest down to trying to split a penny!

That said, however, I have one caution! My other sister, younger than me, added her son to her account - just in case. It went well for awhile until he missed a payment for something - the bank then took the charge from his mother's account. She did not see that coming and was caught short. Just be aware - yes a co-owner can withdraw $$ without your permission and - yes, their creditors can come after your account with their name on it.

TOD (Transfer On Death) seems a good way to do it too. At some point - you have to trust someone!
 

Keep in mind that in many states if your child is on your account, and your child harms another party and has to pay damages, they can come after all the money in your accounts to satisfy the claim against the child. IOW, you are putting your savings at risk.

AT the very least make sure your child has a beefy Umbrella insurance policy in the event the child is sued for big money. You should have one also. They are not that expensive. Consider it a 'success tax'.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Checking and savings at my main bank. He's already a co-owner on my credit union checking and can transfer funds from savings into checking if necessary. The bank rep, Bryan was so nice and efficient. Bryan provided us with all the information and disclaimers he was supposed to. He told me before finalizing the add to be aware that it meant my son could withdraw money at will. I told him if he did so without my permission I would break his neck! I added besides..I know where he lives. My son chimed in saying that at 54 years old he's still afraid of me. :LOL: And the laughter began.

I wanted to get this done in case I become very ill, can't transact business for myself and need at home care. My son maintains that he'd never put me in a nursing home. Although my health plan (Aetna PPO) pays for 35 hours a week of at home care for an unlimited time, if I need more obviously that's out of pocket. Also after I pass, it will be easier for him to pay whatever is left to be paid. He also has POA on one of my brokerage accounts and I'm planning to just go ahead and give him POA on the others. Obviously I have tremendous trust in my child. Adding him necessitated us choosing other POD beneficiaries for those accounts.

Bryan seemed to anticipate my questions and answered them before I even asked. One thing I wanted to know was if my son would have his own login so we could both set up two factor identification. I hadn't done it at that bank because sometimes he needed to login for me and may not have had access to my phone. So the answer was yes and his login was set up while we were sitting there. I'm not getting any younger and I felt it was time to get this done. When I told my sister, she said she had already done this with her two children who are also very trustworthy. @Pecos
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MDS,

You have made a wise decision and are fortunate to have a trustworthy son. I became a co-owner of my stepfather's accounts and doing so saved me untold grief when I had to execute his will.
 
well you could have made out like a bandit the last 14 years with treasury bonds instead of cash . they soared in value as rates fell.

you cant blame markets or the fed for poor choices in what to do with ones money.

the fed did everything but drop leaflets from helicopters telling people to at least shift to bonds until rates go back up.

for the last 40 years there were very few times REGARDLESS of rates where higher rates and higher inflation left one with a negative return.

higher rates and higher inflation can be worse then lower rates and lower inflation like we had
 
My son is third owner on our house title and on our bank accounts, but we haven't mentioned it to him because he would worry about it -- he worries about everything. It's just something I plan to mumble to him when the time comes for him to start paying bills, etc.

I have made him promise to put me in a nursing home if the going gets rough. Particularly if I get to the diaper or deep dementia stages.
 
I think I set it up correctly, all the accounts are paid to my son upon my death. I have set up the POA and medical directives for my health. As I understood it, if I get sick he can access my funds to pay my bills with the POA but does not put the money at risk if someone comes after the son for any reason. I appreciate this conversation. I will double check with the lawyer to make sure I have done it right.
 
One thing I've wondered about adding kids to accounts or other financial assets. Doesn't that open them up to potential tax consequences? Specifically interest earning or dividen paying accounts? Or unearned income? Possibly even kicking them up into higher tax brackets?

Or does the POD designation protect the kids from tax liability until your death?
 
C50 said:
One thing I've wondered about adding kids to accounts or other financial assets. Doesn't that open them up to potential tax consequences? Specifically interest earning or dividen paying accounts? Or unearned income? Possibly even kicking them up into higher tax brackets?

Or does the POD designation protect the kids from tax liability until your death?
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Yes the Pay on Death does protect them from tax liability until your death. This is how my own Mother passed her funds to us upon her death. We did not have to take these funds through probate. The attorney made sure the taxes due on the funds were paid directly to the IRS before we were given the balance.
 
Blessed said:
. . . There were many injuries during the night time. Broken bones, brain bleeds etc. My sister and I came to the realization that I could no longer keep her at home safely. She was placed into assisted living about a mile from my home. It was very nice, they had very good food and she was well taken care of but it still bothers me that I could not keep my promise.

I would say for me, I have told my son that if I can not stay at home to place me in care not only for me but also for him. I do not want him to have the pressure or burden of my promise to my Mom. It is hard to break that promise but sometimes must be done. I guess God stepped in because she did not really know what had to done. She settled in her new home quite well.
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Please don't feel you broke your promise to your mom because I don't think you did. You can only do so much on your own, even if you had help from family or nurses. At some point & time, you have to do what is best for her in the long run.

It is good that you told your son what your wishes are. I can't tell you what a load it is off of your mind when someone tells you before something happens what they want. If someone doesn't tell family/friends, or have it down in writing, they get what the family thinks is best.
 
Lilac said:
Please don't feel you broke your promise to your mom because I don't think you did. You can only do so much on your own, even if you had help from family or nurses. At some point & time, you have to do what is best for her in the long run.

It is good that you told your son what your wishes are. I can't tell you what a load it is off of your mind when someone tells you before something happens what they want. If someone doesn't tell family/friends, or have it down in writing, they get what the family thinks is best.
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I know from experience that these things need to be expressed. Something will happens and we all need to prepare our families, how we wanted to be treated, what we want if we are incapacitated by illness. If we tell one another the truth there is no question, just do the thing we ask for without guilt.

That even applies to our death. I have requested no embalming, no service, just to go straight to cremation and then be mixed with the husband's ashes. I would prefer that our ashes remain in this place. A deep hole between 3 oak trees on the property. There were not that big when we came here and now are huge, kind of like life when we all start out. We may start small but we grow in to something amazing, somehing huge. We could rest there in peace and watch the other families that come after, grow to become huge in their dreams for their lifes.

I still feel the guilt of my mother's situation because she never expressed to me what to do if things, her health, that I could not keep her safe, went bad. My sister and I made the right decision. I just it was one we did not have to make. I wish I could have kept her with me.
 
Lilac said:
Please don't feel you broke your promise to your mom because I don't think you did. You can only do so much on your own, even if you had help from family or nurses. At some point & time, you have to do what is best for her in the long run.

It is good that you told your son what your wishes are. I can't tell you what a load it is off of your mind when someone tells you before something happens what they want. If someone doesn't tell family/friends, or have it down in writing, they get what the family thinks is best.
Click to expand...

I know from experience that these things need to be expressed. Something will happens and we all need to prepare our families, how we wanted to be treated, what we want if we are incapacitated by illness. If we tell one another the truth there is no question, just do the thing we ask for without guilt.
That even applies to our death. I have requested no embalming, no service, just to go straight to cremation and then be mixed with the husband's ashes. I would prefer that our ashed remain in this place. A deep hole between 3 oak trees on the property. There were not that big when we came here and now are huge, kind of like life when we all start out. We may start small but we grow in to something amazing, somehing huge. We could rest there in peace and watch the other families that come after, grow to become huge in their dreams for their lifes.

I still feel the guilt of my mother's situation because she never expressed to me what to do if things, her health, that I could not keep her safe, went bad. My sister and I made the right decision. I just it was one we did not have to make. I wish I could have kept her with me.
 
mathjak107 said:
that money is at risk if he is sued or divorces if married
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~MJ I don't believe in putting all my eggs in one basket, so the accounts that my son is now co-owner on make up only 6% of my net worth (not including the value of my apartment). And truthfully, if he came to me and said he needed that amount of money for something important (like a legal issue), I'd gladly give it to him (though he'd insist to make it a loan). But God willing, he will never be sued.
~My wonderful DIL passed away on December 11, 2021. He is not looking to get married again.
~@Conce He has POA on my brokerage account which is different from being a co-owner. His name is not on any of my brokerage accounts, which are mostly in Traditional and Roth IRAs (67% in the Roth ). With his name and SS# not attached to those accounts, the assets cannot be used to pay his debts.
~Already have a will in place, drawn up by our attorney and updated when necessary.

~@C50 In our case the savings account I made him co-owner on doesn't a massive amount in it plus banks are paying a pittance. I also figured things would be handled like the quoted part below anyway. The other two accounts are non interest bearing checking accounts. But you ask a good question. Maybe this will help answer it:
"Interest income is attributed to each owner of an account in proportion to his ownership stake in the account. For most accounts co-owned by parent and child, usually only the parent’s Social Security number is on the account. The bank will then send the parent the Form 1099-INT showing the full amount of interest earned during the year. Unless your child made deposits to the account, you must report the entire amount on your taxes. If your child contributed a significant portion of the funds and you receive the Form 1099-INT, you can share the tax liability proportionally by filing a Form 1099-INT for your child’s share with both the Internal Revenue Service and your child."
https://finance.zacks.com/tax-impli...oint-account-owner-savings-account-10791.html
 
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Our son is not a co-owner, joint, or TOD on any of our accounts.
Beneficiary to IRA's, Annuities, are outside of probate and freezing of account on death.
DS is the tertiary beneficiary to IRAs, Roths, annuities. Secondary beneficiary is the spouse.
The goal is to have a relatively small Bank account and money withdrawn from the Roth in the final months.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
~MJ I don't believe in putting all my eggs in one basket, so the accounts that my son is now co-owner on make up only 6% of my net worth (not including the value of my apartment). And truthfully, if he came to me and said he needed that amount of money for something important (like a legal issue), I'd gladly give it to him (though he'd insist to make it a loan). But God willing, he will never be sued.
~My wonderful DIL passed away on December 11, 2021. He is not looking to get married again.
~@Conce He has POA on my brokerage account which is different from being a co-owner. His name is not on any of my brokerage accounts, which are mostly in Traditional and Roth IRAs (67% in the Roth ). I don't think my assets could be used to pay his debts under those circumstances.
~Already have a will in place, drawn up by our attorney and updated when necessary.

~@C50 In our case the savings account I made him co-owner on doesn't have enough in it to be concerned about taxes because banks are paying a pittance. The other two accounts are non interest bearing checking accounts. But you ask a good question. Maybe this will help answer it:
"Interest income is attributed to each owner of an account in proportion to his ownership stake in the account. For most accounts co-owned by parent and child, usually only the parent’s Social Security number is on the account. The bank will then send the parent the Form 1099-INT showing the full amount of interest earned during the year. Unless your child made deposits to the account, you must report the entire amount on your taxes. If your child contributed a significant portion of the funds and you receive the Form 1099-INT, you can share the tax liability proportionally by filing a Form 1099-INT for your child’s share with both the Internal Revenue Service and your child."
https://finance.zacks.com/tax-impli...oint-account-owner-savings-account-10791.html
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Be sure that you have a beneficiary to the retirement accounts. Without a beneficiary, the account proceeds will pass thru estate proceedings.
 
leastlongprime said:
Be sure that you have a beneficiary to the retirement accounts. Without a beneficiary, the account proceeds will pass thru estate proceedings.
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I just revised my beneficiary designations for my brokerage accounts last week, something I make sure to do whenever necessary. I also let my beneficiaries know which brokerage(s) to contact upon my death. It's unfortunate that some people have money coming and they don't even know it because things of this nature are not discussed in their families.
 

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