Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Hello, I am the eldest son and trustee of my mothers will. The Will simply listed the 5 siblings, while there was also a Family Trust dividing the estate between the 5 siblings. However, the only remaining asset under the Trust is an IRA. Mother also had a joint bank account with me, which was never added to the trust. My question for purposes of knowing how to handle the funds in this bank account .. does the money from this account go directly to me as the joint owner and bypass the Will and trust?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Joint bank accounts usually pass to the survivor of the two named account-holders. Your bank should be able to tell you if title to the account indeed provides for the account to pass to the survivor.
Mr Perry is exqctly right here. I would also add that if the account contains a substantial sum of money that even though you may be legally entitled to it , your siblings may think they have a claim and could make your life miserable by challenging the joint status. Even if they dont have much on their side legally s it may be costly or cause hard feelings...
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