On Friday, July 29th, at 11am EST, Candice Joy will be posting a video for our FAQ Facebook Fridays about the potential draw backs of using joint tenancy/beneficiary designations for estate planning.

If your estate plan is payable on death, transferable on death etc. then please keep these potential pitfalls in mind.

If your accounts are joint (potentially with a child), it’s important to know that that person can use that account during your life which can be very positive, but also potentially risky.

If your house or another asset is jointly owned, if that other joint owner becomes a party to a lawsuit or bankruptcy or other, then your asset could now be apart of their judgement.

Joint asset could sometimes be viewed as a gift, instead of an inheritance which affects taxes quite a bit.

If your will plan is different than a joint asset made during life, this could create complications after death or possible strife amongst family members.

There have been potential issues when trying to avoid probate as joint ownership can be complex such as joint tenancy with right of survivorship versus joint in common.

Submit your question

Bring your questions about estate planning and administration to our weekly Facebook Live with Mr. Berger on Fridays at 11am EST. Leave your email if you’d like to receive a notification of our response.