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okay so in this video we're gonna talk about whether you should put your child on your bank account la issue comes up all the time and there's a lot of different scenarios some people come into the office already having put their child's name on their bank account some people come in having a parent has died and the child says Paul we got to get my parents estate settled they have the real estate they had the investments don't worry about we need to need to talk about the bank accounts because they put me on their bank accounts other people ask me Paul should I put my child's name on the account and we got to be real clear about what one the account means so I think that concern that most parents have when when this comes up is the parent is worried that if the parent becomes incapacitated they want a child to be able to write checks pay bills out of the parents account and the other concern is the parent wants when the parent dies they want a child to be able to write the check to the funeral home and cover other expenses that need to be handled in that short term after the parent dies so I'm gonna bounce around here a little bit and talk about just some of the issues that come up some of the worries that people have about about a parent making a child an authorized signer on the parents account is people ask me Paul if I put my child on my bank account could they go you know clean that account out behind my back and you know the answer is yes and and if there's that concern that you have a child who might go steal your money from you behind you back behind your back if you put your child on as an authorized signer on your account then they'll go put that child on your account other people ask me Paul if I put my child on my account and they get sued can all the lawyers come take my money and so you know we have to have a discussion about you know whose money is in the account isn't the parents money or the child's money and so you know we have to go down that road but the bigger issue I think is this distinction and the confusion surrounding around whether a child is an authorized signer on their parents account versus whether they're an owner or a co-owner of the account I will tell you by default and and just about all of the circumstances when a parent takes the child to the bank and puts the child quote on the account they're typically making the child an authorized signer okay so what often happens is momma and this is where some of the confusion comes in mama goes to the bank with daughter and let's say mama has a bank account with $60,000 in it and maybe mama even tells the banker right there with the daughter mama says I want my daughter to be able to sign on my account and mama might even say you know if I pass away I won't I want my daughter to be able to have that money and the banker might even say well we've got it set up where your daughter is an authorized signer so if when mama when you die your daughter can come to the bank close the account and put all the money in her account so but that's not the same thing as when mama dies daughter's entitled to become the owner of all of that money so sure she has access to the money but quite frankly the money is part of Mama's estate and let's say mama has three children and three heirs equal heirs then that money needs to go to all three children now when daughter you know daughter doesn't want to hear that when mama dies so you know she often gives some some push back you know and and she and daughter might might tell me she like mr. Rabelais mama made me a co-owner on that account because so since she made me a co-owner I I owned at least half of that money because I was a co-owner and I'll sale yeah you were a co-owner and so you know I ask these silly questions so you know whose money was put into that account was it Mama's money that was put into the account or did you put your own money into that account well as much as Mama's money Oh as well whose social security number was on the account and who was getting the interest that the account produced and who was paying in come tax on the interest every year well mama was getting all the interest and paying all attacks and so you know well daughter don't you think maybe that that you're not necessarily an owner you were just an authorized signer and that's Mama's money and it was Mama's money when she died and it's part of Mama's estate that goes to Mama's heirs and you know finally I then you know daughter gives more pushback and then you know pulls the yeah but it's it's mama wanted me to have it well there's another way that mama should have said it set it up if mama wanted you to have it and then I get more pushback well it's not fair because I took care of mama those last four months and my two siblings once the Massachusetts woman's in California they they've barely called and since I took care of mama most of the time almost every day I should be entitled to that money and I'm like doesn't matter and then I get more pushback like you know mr. Robley I quit my job to take care of mama and and then so you know since I quit my job then that money in the account that mama had that I was a signer on that that money ought to come to me so all those you know if to hear all that but yeah bottom line is we have to look at whose money it is and it's Mama's money and it's in Mama's estate it goes to her heirs ok so here's some of the things that people do to try to get it right some people in our state they allow for this table on def Pio D designation some banks and credit unions authorize it it's where mom I could could go to the bank and have a bank account and and sign this p OD designation payable-on-death and so that though by itself doesn't solve the two concerns that mama has one is I want some Bob somebody to be able to write my checks out of my account if I'm sick and then I want my I want somebody they have immediate access to in my account when I buy to be able to pay for my funeral and pay other expenses so the PIO designation it would allow whoever's designated as the on the PIO d designation to get the funds but only not right when mama dies but after the death certificate is produced and sometimes it takes three or four weeks two for death certificates to come in so that doesn't necessarily solve all of the concerns other people say I don't have to worry about the banking stuff but because it's gonna be easy I gave my daughter power of attorney so the accounts in Mama's name and yes if mama gets sick and can't sign her checks daughter can produce the power of attorney document to the bank the bank's lawyers will look at it and maybe they'll honor it banks aren't required to honor powers of attorney in fact they may not like it because it's either too old doesn't have the right language so that's an issue that we have to deal with and then the power of attorney when mama dies the power attorney doesn't good do any good because Mama's power of attorney ceases to have any effectiveness when Mama died so nobody is able to write checks on Mama's account after mama dies because the account will be frozen okay so one other issue I want to go over on this matter is too many people are asking me or their lawyer if I die can my child sign checks and have access to my account at the bank because my may I set my my child up because their on the account so by asking the lawyer that question that's not asking the right person that is the bank that question every bank has their own little rules and procedures and they're not all exactly the same so if you do have your child on your account and you're worried that they may or may not be able to access that account at a certain future date whether you're alive whether you've passed away you need to go to the bank and get confirmation from them as to what your rights are and what the rights are of that person who might be quote on your account what other people do is some people will title their bank accounts in their revocable living trust if they have a revocable living trust in that that that works well because in your trust it says that you can transact all of your accounts it says that when your incapacity Shadid there's a successor trustee who can access your accounts and it says when you and I there's a successor trustee who can access your accounts and then you know of course their responsibility will be to make sure that the funds and those accounts go to the principal beneficiaries of your trust whoever that might be might be your children or whatever you designated in your trust so that seems to work you know well bottom line is bottom line here is just by adding someone as an authorized signer on your account doesn't mean necessarily that they're entitled to own those funds when you pass away if you want them to own those funds when you pass away perhaps that should be in your you know estate planning legal documents so I hope this video to realize that there's a distinction between being an authorized signer and an owner or an authorized signer versus a beneficiary for example and it's really important that you get the right information from the bank from your estate attorney and make third make sure things get structured the right way so that there's not confusion ambiguity and then conflict you know when you pass away or when you get sick real important here now that you punch this subscribe button and the notification bail to make sure you don't miss anything in the future and then tune in every 10:00 a.m. daily Central Time more estate planning education so that you can be armed with the information that you need to make sure you protect what you have for yourself and your family you do it right you make it easy for those survivors okay so there you have it should you put your child's name on bank accounts have a great day