“Joint Ownership” Can Be A Bad Idea
Have You Heard Of Anyone Putting Their Adult Child On Their Bank Account?
Usually it is done with the idea that if something happens to them, the child will have immediate access to some funds to pay bills or travel costs. You know who else loves this type of planning? Your child’s creditors.
The largest problem with this type of setup, is the risk that you are opening up your assets to the claims of any creditors of your child. If your child is on the account with you and then gets into a car accident and ends up owing a lot of money, the money in your account can be dragged into paying off their car accident bills!
Keep others off of your accounts. You can give them access in a couple other ways: give them power of attorney or name them as a successor trustee. Either of these options keep your assets out of their problems – usually a good thing.
Have You Heard Of Anyone Putting Their Adult Child On Their Bank Account?
Usually it is done with the idea that if something happens to them, the child will have immediate access to some funds to pay bills or travel costs. You know who else loves this type of planning? Your child’s creditors.
The largest problem with this type of setup, is the risk that you are opening up your assets to the claims of any creditors of your child. If your child is on the account with you and then gets into a car accident and ends up owing a lot of money, the money in your account can be dragged into paying off their car accident bills!
Keep others off of your accounts. You can give them access in a couple other ways: give them power of attorney or name them as a successor trustee. Either of these options keep your assets out of their problems – usually a good thing.
