Should You Add A Child As A Signer On Your Bank Account?

Some people come to my office having already added their child as an authorized signer on their bank account. Others come to me after a parent dies and tell me that they are "on" their parent's bank account. While others ask my advice on whether they should bring their child to the bank and add them as a signer.

The concern that many parents have is that they want one or more children to have access to the parent's bank account so that if the parent gets sick and pay bills, a child will be able to pay bills out of the parent's account. The other concern parents express is that the parent wants a child to be able to pay funeral and other expenses after death out of the parent's account - the parent does not want the account to be frozen, requiring lawyers and judges to get access to funds.

There is a great deal of confusion among consumers about what it means to add a child as an authorized signer to a bank account.

Sometimes a child who is added as an authorized signer on a bank account of their parents mistakenly believes that they automatically become the owner of all of the bank account funds when the parent passes away.

While there are many different ways from state to state to set up your bank accounts, including payable on death designations or having a power of attorney on file at the bank, the assumption that people should start with is that if you add someone as an authorized signer on your bank checking or savings account, those funds are still your funds. You did not make that "signer" an owner or a co-owner of those funds. And when you die, those funds will be part of your estate and should pass to your heirs, even though that "authorized signer" may have access to the account.

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This post is for informational purposes only and does not provide legal advice. Please do not act or refrain from acting based on anything you read on this site. Using this site or communicating with Rabalais Estate Planning, LLC, through this site does not form an attorney/client relationship.

Paul Rabalais
Louisiana Estate Planning Attorney
www.RabalaisEstatePlanning.com

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