Legal Question in Elder Law in New York

Re: Wills

Not necessarily. If the account was in joint name as a convenience to mom, meaning, that it was her money, but your brother's name was put on the account just so that he could write checks to pay her bills, then the account would be part of mom's assets to be divided among her heirs. The problem you have is the law presumes that a joint account goes to the survivor; it's your burden of proof to prove otherwise. There are cases directly on this point which you can show your brother to prove to him that just because he was on the account doesn't necessarily mean he gets the money. But if he tells you he doesn't care, and the bank gives him the money, what are you going to do? You'll have to go through the Administration process which costs money, and in the end you may not come out ahead anyway. If there was $100,000 in the account then definitely, you should file an Administration Petition. But if there was only $5,000 in the account, then it's not worth it. Just tell your brother he's a bum and get on with your life.

Good luck

Rick Bryan,

New York, NY