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My sister and I are on her will to inherit 50% of her remaining estate. When I became a joint owner of her bank account; they told me that I could not inherit my share and have my sister designated as POD. How will I handle the remainder of her account when she passes?

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The joint owner of a banking account is the sole owner upon the death of the other owner. The account will be yours upon your mother's death.
You POA ends at the death of your mother. It pertains only to a living person. You will no longer pay anything nor sign anything as POA.
Upon your mother's death the executor of the will takes on the powers formerly belonging to the POA. If that is you, then you will take on the role of distributing the estate as your mother requested, and all other legal and financial matters.
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JoanLF, welcome to the forum. I remember back when I had joint checking account with my Dad, just as a co-signer for any checks.

Once my Dad had passed the job of POA no longer is needed. Now it becomes the job of the Executor to which I had been named. I had to take that checking account and close it..... open up a new account that read "Estate of _______". From that account any legit bills that came I would pay. Bills for Dad's credit card, medical bills, etc.

I needed to wait until after Probate was completed before I could inherit anything in Dad's Will/Trust.
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Caregiverstress Feb 2023
Not sure why you had to go through probate if your dad had a trust? Trust assets avoid probate.
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I was on my parents' checking account for years before they died or before I had anything to do with their finances.

After my mom died (the last one to go), technically the account became mine, but as their estate was to be split 50/50 between my brother and myself, I'll just write him a check for half the balance and take the other half for myself.

It didn't need to be in writing -- it was the right thing to do.
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JoAnn29 avatar
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JoAnn29 Feb 2023
If that money is not part of the estate, righting him a check may consider it gifting. I would check that out. May mean brother will have to pay taxes.
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If you want state specific information it would be best to contact an elder law attorney. nelf.org
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I am with frequent here. It all depends on how the acct was set up. I was on my Moms but only so I could sign checks. If as POA, like said that stops at death. I am to understand, that POD (payment upon death) needs to be placed on the acct with a beneficiary named.

I would not pay a lawyer. A bank officer should know what the State Law is. You may need to do what Frequent said and transfer the money to an estate acct. Once probate is done, then you split it.
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my2cents Feb 2023
The bank is who told them to put sister alone as POD and told poster she could not inherit the balance.

I'm inclined to think the bank gave them incorrect information. It may have come from bank thinking a POA is authorized to 'help' with financial decisions and would be a conflict to inherit assets toward yourself by using a POA. I'm sure that happens all the time with children who are angling toward cutting other siblings out of the pot of gold. An attorney in that state could sort it out.

Hopefully the siblings get along and can sort all the assets out fairly by splitting it all down the middle.
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My mom, dad and I all lived in NV when they died in 2022. I was the third person on their checking and savings accounts. I was also listed as the executor and only person to inherit. They both died within weeks of each other. Since I was one of the owners of the accounts, they became mine. No questions asked, no lawyers, no issues. It just reverted to me. I called the bank manager and asked their lawyer and asked what my next steps were. There were no issues or hoops to jump through. I was pretty shocked by it.

Do you and your sister get along well? Can she remove the money and give you half or visa versa? Seems if you're a joint owner of the account, it's yours. So she is POD (payable on death) and you're a joint owner? So you're both owners of the account?
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KaleyBug Feb 2023
Pod only applies if original poster dies too. The money goes to Original poster. POD does not apply. She can after her mom passes give her sister 50% if it is within the yearly gift limit. If moms capable have her add the sister to the account
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As I understand it POA rights ends upon the death of the person. If you have a joint account nothing needs to be done, you are able just to withdraw the money. Technically you don't have to share it, it is not part of probate however if you know your mother wanted your sister to have half morally you should give her her share of that money. I'm unclear as to why the bank would tell you you couldn't inherit your share. Perhaps you need to add more information.
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Breezy23 Feb 2023
ok I'm sorry I misread POD as POA, my error. So in order to avoid probate talk to your sister now and if you can agree take that money out and put it into a joint account with you and your sister as account owners. You both have to agree that this money is to be used for your mother but upon her death you both will share the remainder of funds. The more you can avoid her estate going to probate the more her assets will survive as an inheritance.
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If it’s a joint bank account then you become the sole owner upon the death of your mother. It’s yours. One way you can try to get around the gift tax is to open a new account with 1/2 the money and put you and your sister on it, with the understanding that it is her money alone. Or put your sister on it as signer and designate her as beneficiary. That way she has access to the money but legally it’s still yours. However, look at the gift tax rules. The lifetime cap is much higher than most people expect and it may not be an issue at all.
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my2cents Feb 2023
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I’m in a different state, but my estate attorney told me as a joint holder of my dad’s account that it was my money after he died. If you have an estate attorney they should be able to tell you what to do.
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We have set up on ours TOD and POD ...transfer on death for investment accounts and payable on death for banking accounts. Again... check what is needed for your state. The POA ended at death.
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PS, banking rules are Federal, so I believe they apply to all states.
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You need probate attorney to handle your question. It's possible the bank gave you incorrect information that has resulted in your sister being the only one named as POD...transferring balance to her name at death.

Your POA designation ends at death. I would think that now, probate follows the will, however the will can only designate what is actually left over in her estate. If bank account transfers to sister at death, it probably won't be part of her 'estate' (because it already belongs to someone else).

This is definitely a question to address with the atty when you probate will.
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As long as you are a joint holder of a bank account, when the other party dies, the money left in the account is yours. It is not part of an estate.
I was a joint holder of my Mom's account. Her will designated each of her children (8 us altogether) as heirs to her property. Upon her death, I paid all remaining bills and distributed the balance in the account 8 ways.
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KaleyBug avatar
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KaleyBug Feb 2023
Same here, my brother and I are on dads checking account. It has worked out perfectly because we are paying the bills as they come in since his death. Once all the checks clear we will close the account and each take 50%
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https://snslp.org/#legal-services

Get help or get Elder Law Attorney referral.
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JoanLF: Power of Attorney exists only when the principal is living. The joint checking account will be your's upon your mother's demise.
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A joint account has. It’s named in the account. You actually own half of the account now . When she passed the whole account is under your name. However if your state does inheritance tax then that half that was hers is taxed only. Check your state’s information or see an elder law attorney ( some hold free seminars) have the true information about the law now because sounds like you will have to educate the bank when the time comes. They have no right to deny you the money
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If your mother wants you to have access to the account immediately after her death, you should discuss her intent. Does she want you own the account at her death, then you should be named as joint owner on the account. Upon mom’s death, the joint owner becomes the sole owner of the account with full rights to the assets. Of course your mom must realize that any money in the account will go directly to the joint owner and will not pass on to any other beneficiaries that she may have named in her Last Will and Testament. If she wants you to share the assets with other beneficiaries, then she may memorialize the fact that it is a convenience account.
Matilda
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List yourself as POD at the bank and it goes to you at death. No probate. Overrides a will even. Payable on death. Just show copy of death certificate.
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who is the "they" you are talking about?
a joint account automatically becomes the sole property of the surviving account holder.
POD means pay on death and it only goes into effect when both account holders die.
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See if your mom will put you and your sister on a living trust deed if she still owns a house. You will avoid probate.
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If you are joint owner you become the sole owner. It will be up to you to honor the will to give your sister 50%. No probate.
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Aha I think I see the issue / what your saying. (As I understand this just slap me if I'm wrong)You can't inherit your share of the money if sis is POD, because a POD account isn't effected by probate. What would happen is your sister would get all of it. It's either - you as joint owner get all of it, or sister is beneficiary of the account and she gets all of it. So y'all will have to split the money yourselves instead of probate being involved in dividing the account. I think you're trying to cover all bases ie, your on joint but if god forbid something bad happened to you both youd want sis to get the account pod (outside of probate). But I think that's just too many variables for this simpler system. When you get the account, they're not going to split the AMT in accordance with the will, they just cut you the entire check.
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