Jerre Mosley

Experienced Wills, Trusts &

Estate Attorney, Chattanooga, TN

HOW ARE YOUR ASSETS TITLED?

From an estate planning standpoint, how your assets are titled is extremely important. A Will only controls how your individually titled assets will pass. Any assets that you own with a spouse will pass to your spouse at your death outside of your will.  Any assets that you own jointly with other persons, such as bank accounts, certificates of deposit, real estate, etc., will likely pass to those other persons upon your death, outside of your will. Any assets that have a designated beneficiary, such as a payable on death bank account, will pass to that designated beneficiary outside of your will. 

If you want a child or another person to be able to write checks on any of your bank accounts but want the money in the account at your death to be distributed in accordance with the terms of your will, make sure that the child or other person who is to sign checks is added only as a power of attorney or given signature privileges. Adding a child or another person to an account usually means the child or other person becomes a joint owner. This results in the account passing to that child or other at the time of your death, in addition to what the child or other person may receive under your will. Adding a child or other person to a bank account as a joint owner can create additional problems as well. If the child or other person should be sued by someone and a judgment entered against the child or other person, the “judgment creditor” could possibly attach your bank account and take the funds from your account.