Patty and Bert have been married for 7 years,
she: 61 , he: 63.

Patty's mom and dad sold the farm and moved in too tiny town. built a ranch style duplex, they use the other side for a guest house.

Patty's dad (grant)set up a checking account /trust with his and hers name on it , in the amount of $1.5 mil.

Only Patty can write on the account , not Bert.

would you get all twisted out of shape and irate
?

No
Common for older parents to add a adult childs name on bank accounts.

No.

My grandmother set up a trust with her two children on it, my dad and my aunt. Both could write checks. My mom and my uncle(aunts husband) couldn't.

This isn't uncommon.

No. As the others said, this kind of arrangement is quite common.

Nope.
If you are referring to Bert, it's not his money or parents anyways.

I guess I would want to know exactly what they were trying to achieve. Do they just need the daughter to have check writing authority? Are they attempting to avoid probate? What is the goal?

And the question that really comes to mind is why keep $1.5million in a checking account? I would venture to guess that they need to consult with a Certified Financial Planner.

No. I would assume this is to for Patty to manage his affairs should her father be unable to do so. I hope they got the advice of an estate attorney as to how best structure the arrangement. Do not need the IRS questioning anything.

Not at all, as others have stated.

Nope. Perfectly normal, whether she’s an authorized user or an actual joint owner, depending on the purpose. Either way, it’s nothing he should be getting bent out of shape over. Not at all.

-Rob

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
Patty and Bert have been married for 7 years,
she: 61 , he: 63.

Patty's mom and dad sold the farm and moved in too tiny town. built a ranch style duplex, they use the other side for a guest house.

Patty's dad (grant)set up a checking account /trust with his and hers name on it , in the amount of $1.5 mil.

Only Patty can write on the account , not Bert.

would you get all twisted out of shape and irate
?

Why should you? It ain't your money. If you get "irate" about it, something is seriously wrong with you, imo.

If Bert and Patty have a good marriage it shouldn't be a problem. If not, its probably a wise move.

Many years ago, a friend advised that a couple should each have their own as well as the joint. Hers, his, and ours. Mrs. slosig and I did things that way and it has been a real blessing. She does what she wants with hers, with no input from me unless she asks for it. I do what I want with mine and she doesn’t give me too much grief about it. We use ours for household expenses and by agreement.

If she were to come into money from her family, it would be hers, plain and simple. None of my business unless she asks for advice.

I’m on all my mom and dad’s accounts but my wife is not...mom and dad did it so I can remove money if/when they die without having to go thru the courts....

Very common estate planning strategy to transfer assets to an adult child, while usually avoiding probate.

quote:

Originally posted by sasquatch28:
I guess I would want to know exactly what they were trying to achieve. Do they just need the daughter to have check writing authority? Are they attempting to avoid probate? What is the goal?

And the question that really comes to mind is why keep $1.5million in a checking account? I would venture to guess that they need to consult with a Certified Financial Planner.

If they have $1.5 million in their checking account it’s probably pocket change, looks like they are doing just fine without a financial planner.

Why would Bert have anything to do with Patty’s parents money. Her Parents gave her control to take care of them with their money because they realize they won’t be able to do it for themselves at some point, he shouldn’t be involved.

Once Patty’s parents die then whatever they leave to Patty as described in their will becomes Patty’s and Berts but not before. It’s possible Patty’s parents new Bert was a screwball and would spend all their money frivolously leaving them without enough money in their golden years when they will need it most.

We can all hope our parents where responsible enough with money so that they are completely taken care of financially for the rest of their lives even if they might be incapable of physically writing the checks themselves.

quote:

Originally posted by 1s1k:
Once Patty’s parents die then whatever they leave to Patty as described in their will becomes Patty’s and Berts but not before.

Depends on state law and how the money is handled. In at least some states, if the money is left to Patty as her sole and separate property and Patty does not commingle it with “their money” or community property, then it remains Patty’s sole and separate property and Bert has no right to any of it.

What if Bert had access to the account and decided to "find himself" or whatever the excuse may be and drained the account? Money does strange things to people.

Without going into details one of our children went through a divorce. Her now ex drained their joint account (only one they had). While we did not go through with a will revision it became our concern was that if the wife and I both met our demise before the divorce was final our estate would become something else for her ex to try and get his hands into. Not an unwarranted thought, one of his remarks to her during the divorce dance was "Get money from your parents".

Nope it's not his money especially only being in the family for 7 years.

No

Surprised this is even a question.

And if they have $1.5M in a checking account, they probably have eight figures plus in other investments ...

Cool stuff.

MDS