Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey

Re: joint bank account

Title to the joint account passed to you at your father's death. You should be able to access the account to pay bills, etc.

For estate tax purposes, because the money was all your father's, 100% of the account is included in his estate for tax purposes (not 50%).

Are you going to treat the account as your own, or as an estate asset? Generally, these kind of accounts can cause problems between beneficiaries where they were set-up for bill paying, etc...and then the joint owner claims after death that the account belongs to them...Better to treat it as an estate asset and divide as part of the estate according to the Will.

Re: joint bank account

While I generally agree with Jon, there are several facts missing that bear upon a complete answer: (A) You do not say how large your father's estate is? (B) You do not say if he had a Will or not, and if he did, who are the people mentioned? (C) Are there other family members surviving and who they are? Without knowing these answers, I can only provide a general answer. As a named person on the account, you have access to it upon your father's death, so you can use the account to pay estate bills, whether or not there was a Will. What, if any, taxes depend upon the total value of your father's estate and who ultimately inherits his estate. Since you acknowledge that the account was created only for the "accomodation" of allowing you to pay bills, 100% of the date of death value is included as part of the potential taxable estate. If the total value of his estate exceeds $675,000, there may be NJ Inheritance taxes due, if the only heirs are immediate family members (spouse, children, grandchildren, etc.). I suggest you contact an estate attorney, like myself, to review this with you and to assist you and the Executor (if there is a Will) or Administrator (if there were no Will), to properly handle the estate. More information is needed to cover beyond your questions.