Add signatory beneficiary
happy Father's Day if you're watching live you're watching on Father's Day big day today glad we got some people out there and I'm sure we'll get a few more huh we always do YouTube live number 16 out of 20 daily unique different YouTube live presentations all related to estate planning like to give you just the practical knowledge that you can take and use in your own personal circumstances so got a lot to jump in so I do want to talk just for a moment about Father's Day if you've watched any of my other videos you probably know what I'll talk to much about my personal life and the reason I don't is quite frankly because I don't like when I watch other videos to learn I don't like those other people who are making videos you know spend you know go on and on about their personal life when I went there to learn but so I'm gonna make a slight exception just because it's Father's Day my father passed away about four years ago he was an engineer worked for a company called Dow Chemical and just was very honest righteous never heard him raise his voice ever in his lifetime never heard him say a curse word ever in his lifetime just a very very very great man so he was the best man in my wedding and then my wife Amy and I I was one of five my wife Amy Anna I have five children four boys our daughter is the youngest and we couldn't be prouder so my oldest son is a lawyer does mergers and acquisitions my second son as a lawyer works in House Counsel for a big firm third son is at Tulane Law School and is working virtually this summer for a Houston law firm he has one more year of law school left and then my fourth son is preparing to take the law school admissions test none of this was at my persuasion at all I want them to go find their passion my youngest daughter she'll start her second year of college next year she plans to go to law schools which she tells us so very proud they've all been really really good students and really really good children and so I'm very honored on today fathers I'll probably get a couple of calls because I know at least one of my sons has been trying to call me with missed each other so if so as appropriate I give the father's day little dad joke there felt like it was relevant appreciate the additional joke one-liner whatever you call in from Ron Ron and I if y'all want to you know you know contribute feel free but Ron and I are stepping our our games up by providing some humor every day but we're not going to quit our day jobs okay big topic here it'sit's a topic that everybody seems to want to know about everybody seems to want to address it the old Paul how do I make sure my bank accounts don't get frozen when I die or are usually its asked in another way Paul if I go add my son to my bank account then the then the array of questions comes can they get it when I die if they get sued will I lose my money is that their money when I die do they have to share it with my other children my other heirs will it get frozen when I die so there's all those questions I wish I had a nickel every time I was asked a question related to the freezing or access to a bank account either during somebody's lifetime or when they died so that's what we're gonna get to the bottom of them and give you maybe five different ways to structure it you'll figure out perhaps which way is the best for you but most people would prefer that there at least one or more of their survivors heirs children most people would prefer that someone have access to their bank accounts and those bank accounts not be frozen upon the death of the account owner and I think most people want that because happy Father's Day to you as well slim dog appreciate the the courtesy most people know that there's going to be expenses that will need to be incurred when they pass away whether those are expenses related to funeral expenses or service expenses or legal expenses and most people who are kind of preparing to make it easy for their survivors they don't want those survivors to have to dip into their own pockets to pay for those expenses that are you know related to their mother father and uncle grandparent passing away so it's an issue that just about everybody has and and I just want to make it clear what we're talking about on this video one is is we're talking about really bank accounts really what we're talking about is bank accounts and credit union accounts I'm going to refer to them collectively as bank accounts because they pretty much have the same rules what we're not referring to is the is brokerage accounts completely different set of rules on your brokerage accounts that you may have at Charles Schwab or Vanguard or fidelity investments or Merrill Lynch or Edward Jones or UBS or any of these other brokerage firms we're not talking about that that's where you have you know the the investment rules apply and the Investment Account rules apply which differ significantly from the bank and credit union account rules so we're talking about bank accounts like checking accounts savings accounts even certificates of deposit that you have at the bank also what we're not talking about is money market accounts at brokerage firms so those fall under the under the securities rules many people have brokerage firms and they have it's like a checking account but they call it a money market account at a brokerage firm this doesn't apply to that either either and the rules I'm going over or the strategies that I go over they also don't apply to the IRAs that you have at the bank so many people at the bank they have a checking account they have a savings account they may have a certificate of deposit and then they may also have IRA accounts individual retirement accounts and those accounts Maori rules apply to those individual retirement accounts not necessarily the bank and credit union account rules that I'm about to go over with you so just making it clear and but still even though I said this doesn't apply this doesn't apply this doesn't apply this doesn't apply everybody has bank accounts just everybody has a checking account many people have savings accounts and many people have certificates of deposit so that's what we are talking about okay so I'm gonna give you the different rules and look I love the lod chat you know it so all my accounts calling brokerage or tenants in common with wife should my wife be able to use those accounts upon my death good question happy me I'm gonna I'm going to address that deal tenants in common so you know what I mean dressing just because I so favor the live chat so all my accounts including brokerage which means you have worker tryouts are tenants in common with my wife should my wife be able to use those accounts upon my death so I'm gonna I'm gonna give my best shot at answering it but as to follow up to my answer I think you ought to contact the brokerage firm or the financial institution because as I'm gonna tell you don't ever rely on the lawyer to answer these questions rely on the information that you get from the financial institution where those accounts are held and I realize brokerage firms are bound by all of the securities rules but even even though they all comply with the securities rules many brokerage firms will have additional policies that you need to be aware of on these types of things so so but I'm gonna give you my best answer for tenants in common you know it's that's not an issue here in Louisiana we don't have that we're probably the only state that hasn't had a but I know enough to be dangerous so tenants in common now I again check with your brokerage firm but I like if you have a brokerage account with your spouse or with your wife and it's titled tenants in common and let's say you die and there's $100,000 of you know investments in that tenants in common account I feel like unless the bank has some other procedure you're half of that account will be frozen and then your wife's half of that she will have access to but she'll need a probate court order to access your half of that account now I'll tell you as a side note I know in many states married couples title their brokerage accounts joint tenants with rights of survivorship which is different than tenants in common now I know that when the state permits that and it's titled that way then joint tenants with rights of survivorship means when when one of the joint tenants dies ownership of the account goes you know exclusively to the surviving spouse so then the surviving spouse can access all of it after the death of the first spouse but tenants in common is different check with your brokerage firm but I think that's what we got what we got going on there should should my wife be able to use those accounts upon my death and we're gonna get into the bank account stuff here in a minute so good question happy May I hope it helped let's move on all right so the the five options that I'll consider on the bank account one is to just kind of leave it in your name and let's say you you have a checking account it's in your name only many married people they'll have an account solely in their name maybe they had it when they got married and they just never made it a joint account maybe the husband wife agreed to have separate accounts and that's how they just like managing their family's assets or maybe you're not married and you just have an individual you know check an account like so many people do or or savings or CD and it's in your name only well did you just leave it at that that's the kind of do nothing strategy then when you die it's going to be frozen so let's say let's put a name um I'm looking at the television above my camera that talks about Bolton he's on the headline there so Bolton has a checking account and Bolton dies and Bolton may or may not have a will regardless let's say he did have a will and it's let's say he left things to mmm prosecutor so Bolton dies he leaves his assets to prosecutor and he names prosecutor as the executor of his estate and so when Bolton dies what's likely gonna happen is as Bolton's funeral gets done and death certificates get prepared and if Social Security gets notified that Bolton died and and and then Social Security stops any kind of bank deposit into Bolton's account and through that the bank finds out that Bolton's dead and they immediately freeze Bolton's account and so prosecutor can't get to it prosecutor has to go see a lawyer has to get confirmed as the executor which takes weeks or months and then prosecutor will open an estate account estate of Bolton at the bank and then prosecutor will have the appropriate court orders to order the bank to release the funds to the estate of Bolton so they can deposit be deposited into the estate of Bolton account with prosecutor as trustee sorry I use those names it's what I saw on the TV screen on the wall alright so that's the kind of do nothing just leave the account in your name strategy most people don't like that because it doesn't give access to the survivors for months or week or weeks or months until after the account owner dies so what else do people do then the next strategy is to do what it's kind of I'm gonna Jimmy this thing I'm not going to get any help I know what I need to do strategy I'm gonna get around I don't need lawyers to do this I got that's that's the next strategy which is maybe which is take one of your survivors one of your kids one of your heirs to the bank and you add that person as a signer authorized signer on your bank account so much confusion about that concept so so first let me hit the issue on point if Bolton has a checking account and we come up with a better name and he brings Donald to the bank and adds Donald as a signer to the account does that mean when Boulton dies Donald can access Bolton's checking account and as you might imagine I get my answer will be depends on the bank most banks from what I've seen will permit Donald to access Bolton's bank account if Donald is an authorized signer but they don't have to and there are many banks out there that when they find out that Boulton died even though Donald is an authorized signer on the account the bank will freeze Bolton's account and then that executor has got to go through the process of being confirmed and opening as an estate account and getting the court orders to the bank to order the bank to release the funds to the executor so that works sometimes but not every time if you've done that you need to go to your bank and ask the question I added my son as an authorized signer if I die will my son have access to the funds and they'll give you an answer and that answer may change but you know 10 years from now when you pass away but but don't again don't rely exclusively on the lawyer's advice on on what will happen at your particular financial institution I will also say that you know again here in general if bolton adds Donald as a signer and Bolton dies and let's say Donald can access the funds it being an authorized signer does not mean that when Bolton dies Donald becomes the owner of that account that account still is in the estate of Bolton and Donald if he has access to the account is an entity withdrawals any funds from the account he's going to be accountable to the other heirs for those funds now maybe Donald would use those funds to pay for funeral services and other expenses and and so all that you know works out and all of the accounting on the back end so no big deal there if wife and I have separate rlt if I die first as a survivor have access to my trust alright good question I call you Addie and Preston senior who's one of a regular you and Ron are right there at MVP status as far as and it looks like you just message retracted your message but I saw it and I'm going to answer it husband and wife have there we go okay got another one here no that's okay I'll come to that one next husband do I have separate revocable living trusts husband has his accounts titled in the name of his trust we'll call him Don because Don's on the screen and wife has her accounts titled in the name of her trust and dad and Don dies can Don's wife access the Don trust Don trust accounts you may have you may have realized the answer and maybe you were detracted your message I'm giving a message that you retracted your message but the big concept there is when Don dies you look at Don's trust instrument and the bank will look at it too to determine who is the successor trustee when Don dies or who's the trustee if Don's not able to be the trustee I'm sure when Don set up his trust maybe he designated his wife likely to be the successor trustee maybe he designated one of his kids and so whoever that successor trustee of that trust is will have access to that account so that was you you're kind of great minds do think alike that was one strategies here in a minute is make those accounts trust accounts and then the successor trustee will have access to those accounts when the initial trustee passes away all right and then happy me who is another regular when bank account has frozen appoint death what happens to bill payments paid automatically from that account each month will those bills get unpaid if the account is frozen the bills will get unpaid so nothing goes in nothing comes out you know if there are utility bills mortgage bills it's it's oftentimes a good idea for that executor to notify the mortgage lender the utility company and say hey the account owner died their account has been frozen I'm in the process of getting appointed our confirmed as the executor I want to keep the lines of communication open I intend to make sure that you get paid out of the estate assets once I get access to those accounts and and they're usually very willing to work with you as long as you maintain those lines of communication open so again we've been talking about the a lot about the what if it's frozen and what do you do and and some of the stuff we're about to talk about is the how do you avoid it being frozen so we've talked about the kind of informal go add somebody as an authorized signer that often works doesn't make that person the owner when you die they're gonna be accountable to the heirs and even when it's done that way sometimes there are some banks that will still freeze the account when the account owner dies okay so the next issue and this is a state-by-state issue is to set up your bank accounts so they have if your bank and state permit it either a p OD payable-on-death designation or a Tod transfer on death designation I thought that was another question but I got it okay so I know here in my state we have p OD designation payable-on-death capri who I see on on my TV right now she goes to the bank and she has two children and she has bank accounts and and she lives in a state and she banks at a bank that permits her to do some type of P OD or Tod designation so she fills out all of the appropriate paperwork that's let's say she did P OD which is what we have in our state and she signs the paperwork the affidavits or whatever that she has to do and and signs that when she dies her bank account is to go 5050 to her two children you know half the child a and half the child B so a couple of issues there one is when you I can't remember her name but whenever the account owner dies the kids aren't gonna be able to access it right away the bank is gonna need a death certificate and that might take three or four weeks may take much longer may take less time all depends on where you are and with the you know what the backorder is on death certificates in your particular area or state so gotta be aware that if they're not going to have access to that right away if you do p OD and you expect for them to be able to pay all these expenses that are due within maybe two or three or four days after your death those funds are just not going to be available for it another unique thing which kind of nobody knows is at least in my state that p OD law it's all in the banking law and what that law says the only aspect of the law is that a bank is relieved from liability for paying the account balance to the PIO d designee z-- but in our estate law there's nothing in our law that says those designee z-- are entitled to become the owners of the money so those designee s may be accountable to the estate or the heirs gotta be careful about that if that's an issue in your state but that's another issue p OD Tod I don't even really know the difference if somebody knows the difference between payable-on-death and transfer on death bring it on because it seems to be the same thing to me all right the other issue is sometimes people mistakenly believe after they tell me all at least I know I got that one covered because I know my daughter can get my get to my bank account when I die because I've already given her power of attorney most people understand that the power of attorney is only effective during your lifetime so if Mike gives Dana power of attorney and they bring that power of attorney to the bank and the bank's lawyers approve of it and Dana starts transacting Mike's bank account while Mike is alive everything's going great Dana's paying bills and Dana's handling things for Mike Mike's getting older Mike once Dana to do it Dana can do it but when Mike dies that power the effectiveness of that power of attorney ceases a power of attorney is only effective during lifetime of the person who gave power of attorney so they will freeze the account and now perhaps Dana or whoever the executor is will have to go through the process of getting confirm as the executor same process that I talked about earlier in order to gain access to those funds so power of attorney doesn't necessarily cut it and then we've got what has been referred to by the impressing senior making your bank accounts trust accounts also a very popular option that that that is is a that that just often works so that's where they're just like the question says husband and wife and your case sometimes husband and wives to have joint trust sometimes they have separate trusts not going to really go into that but husband has his own trust his bank accounts he goes to the bank when he sets up this trust and he tells the bank look I have these three accounts here are the checking account of savings account I have a CD here's my trust instrument and the title of my trust and I'm the trustee of my trust so I would like to retitle my bank accounts take them out of my name and put them in my Trust's name because I don't want them to be frozen when I die I want my successor trustee to be able to have access immediately when I die so they can do what they need to do distribute the assets to the appropriate beneficiaries of my trust pay other expenses that are necessary and I don't want that person that I designated to have any difficulty so I want to retitle my trust put them and my retitle my bank accounts put them in my trust so that is very common if that is an option you may want to chat with your bank beforehand some banks will and some financial institutions will permit you to retitle your bank account without having to get new account numbers that's really easy because you probably have a lot of bank draft automatic bank deposit stuff and it's a hassle to open up new checking accounts with a new account number and redo all that bank draft stuff so real easy if they permit you to retitle the account without getting a new account number a little more involved if you have to get new checking your house most people don't want to do that I don't blame them so you could look at perhaps one of the other strategies as well about giving your survivors access to the account all right so here's often what we see to give you an example Oh Fred has a checking account or savings account and a couple of CDs it's and and he has a living trust so that his home and his investments and other things are in his trust because he wants it to make it easy for the survivor or the trustee to be able to to take care of things when he dies sell his house access the investments to buy them up among the trust beneficiaries so kind of a no-brainer there to transfer the CDs and the savings account to the trust because those aren't transacted much it's a retitle and either name someone as a signer or probably have power of attorney but that stops at death maybe do a p OD Tod or making a trust account so those are those are the options there okay tomorrow the we have four more tomorrow is get a lot about how to fund a trust and I just talked a little bit about how to retitle bank accounts into the name of a trust that's what funding a trust is people hear the term is fund to trust they don't know what it means but it really means taking assets that are in perhaps your name and retitling them into the name of a trust or funding that trust that's the same thing so funding is a unique term but it's it means retitling and I think most most lake people understand what you know retitling an asset means retitling a home from john doe to john doe as trustee of the john doe trust retitling a bank account from john doe to john doe as trustee of the john doe trust or an investment account or something like that so tomorrow's gonna be all about the various kinds of assets that you may have how those get funded I want everybody to have a phenomenal Father's Day really enjoy it all the live chat today happy Father's Day to all you father's out there bring on your questions on the comments to my other videos like subscribe all that stuff we'll see you tomorrow
