My Mom does not have a Living Will. She has a POA,-my brother- an Advance Medical Directive, a DNR order, and a Will. My name and my brother. Mom is in the hospital and rehab w/ a broken hip. She will hopefully go back to assisted Living once she can walk again. She is 88. I am trying to figure out her finances before she dies and was told that if my name was on her checking account her money would be safe from the courts and we could proceed with her wishes outlined in her Last Will & Testament. I want to make sure I am doing the right things to keep her estate out of the hands of lawyers and courts.
my second observation; a va advocate told me the other day that as we apply for aid and attendance they will also prepare some kind of documents for us to completely evade probate. i told her a will was in place, she said that would not suffice and that probate costs time and money. sorry i cant tell you what shes proposing but im guessing the civilian equivalent could be done by anyones attorney. when i do find out whats required ill sure let everyone know..
I think you're most concerned that you can have access to the funds immediately following your mother's death, and a joint account will allow you to do just that. Note, however, that her will only covers accounts in her her sole name, e.g., not joint accounts. So if her will says "All my assets go equally to my children," and you are the only one on the bank account with her, then the money in the joint bank account will pass to you alone and not to your siblings. If this is what your mother intends, that's fine. If not, it could cause family disputes.
As for whether the creditors of your mother can reach the joint bank account after her death, note that this varies from state to state. In many states, the creditors are simply out of luck and cannot attach the account of a deceased joint owner.
Another problem with this is if Medicaid monies were ever needed, your name is on this account and that could have an effect on whether or not she would qualify.
I'm not an attorney but it's best to have a trust rather than just a will - the will can be put INTO the trust. A trust does not have to go through probate in most states, so you may want to look into that.
Best wishes on the recovery of your Mom.
Because mom can withdraw the total amount of funds at any time, the IRS does not yet consider this a gift. Any amounts you withdraw are considered a gift. I'd be careful to not use your name on withdrawals, even if you intend to spend the money on mom. The account will be included in mom's estate for tax and creditor purposes unless you could prove you deposited 1/2 (Or, whatever percentage.) of the money yourself. If you would die first, it would be included in your estate; except for the fact mom could prove she deposited the entire amount.
The two major problems with this method of estate "planning" is that if you owe someone money (Either a normal creditor or because of you injuring someone.), the funds would be available to pay them from the account. Then, you would have a gift tax return if the amount was large enough as well. The other problem is that the money will go to the joint "owner", even if the will were to state differently on the death of the joint owner. (We presume will be mom.)
The other suggestion of course, was to ask a lawyer in your mother's state as all states are different.
her life that she so deserves. Find yourself an Eldercare Attorney to her help with any legal questions that you might have.