Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

Re: Deceased Family Member

no

Re: Deceased Family Member

(1) The checking account has been changed into a "TottenTrust" and the money in the account is now yours to do wuith as you please. It is not a part of the estate and is not a part of probate. It is just yours.

(2) If a creditor were to show that the account was transferred as a fraud to avoid debts, then the amount in the account could be applied to the debts.

(2)is an abstact, legal theory answer and is unlikely to be relevant to your situation. (1) is the answer that applies.

Re: Deceased Family Member

I am not sure I agree with David. You do not indicate why your name was added to the account or how the account was registered. If we make some alternative presumptions, the answer may change. If you were added to the account solely as an "accomodation", so that you could sign checks if the family member was unable to, the account is still considered, for debt purposes, as being that of the decedent and could be charged for the debts. If the registration were made simply so the account might not be considered for probate; i.e., the account was similar to a POD designation, again it could be hit for the debts. On the other hand, if the registration was made in a manner that allowed you to close it and keep the proceeds (usually registerd as "X" or "Y", rather than "X" and "Y"), you could consider the account as yours and it could not be attacked, except if the registration were made that way to defeat known or anticipated debts. In this case, the "transfer" of ownership would be subject to local and federal laws on transfers in fraud of creditors and the creditor could attack the account or any funds you actually withdrew, subject to statute of limitations claims and, possibly, other defenses. In all instances, you could not be personally responsible for debts that exceeded the account balance or funds you actually received/withdrew, even if taken with the consent of the original account owner, and considered a gift to you.