Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Hampshire

Re: Probate

not usually. joint property vests in the surviving joint tenant by operation of law, without the need for probate.

there are some instances, however, where the joint tenancy was set up "for convenience purposes" such as when a child is named as a joint tenant on a bank account for purposes of paying bills, signing checks, etc. In those cases, it can be argued that this is not a true joint tenancy (such as where there are other children involved, not named on the account, and the decedent intended his/her assets to be shared equally among all children, but named one on the account for "convenience purposes").

in those cases, probate is still generally avoided, and the joint account holder distributes the money informally among all the kids. but if the joint account holder doesn't, and one of the other kids complains, then a complaining heir could start a probate seeking to bring the "joint" accounts into probate......

so generally, if all assets were joint, probate is not required, the surviving joint tenant takes by operation of law. but a party who objects could force a probate...

also, probate and estate taxes are different issues - the fact that there is no probate doesn't mean there isn't a tax liability.....

Re: Probate

If the accounts are titled "joint tenants with rights of survivorship," then there should be no need for probate proceedings. The survivor should be able to close out the accounts. However, this does not negate the need to report any income or dividents and pay any and all appropriate taxes. Also, there may, in come cases, be a need to make sure that legitimate bills of the deceased individual are properly addressed.