Joint Ownership - Ripe Area for Probate Disputes

Many clients hold accounts in joint name for convenience purposes. A common reason is to allow for access even if the co-owner is incapacitated. It’s an understandable oversight that this convenience can result in serious unintended consequence: the joint owner will succeed to full ownership outside of the probate process. This is a recurring issue in many estates that we handle. Some are resolved amicably, some are not.

To eliminate this challenge, we take two steps: first, we carefully review the client’s assets. Part of every consultation is asking who is named on each account. Second, we make certain that specific language is included in the Client’s will to achieve their goals. This language will either direct that the joint tenancy is confirmed and that assets are to pass to the surviving co-owner of the account. Alternatively, we will employ a “set-off” against the devisee’s share of the Client’s estate. What does this look like in practice:

I give and devise the sum of $10,000 to John Smith; provided, however, that this amount shall be reduced by the full value, up to the whole of this devise, of any assets owned jointly between me and John Smith, that pass to him outside of this will by right of survivorship.

This type of language is an important. In cases where one of the client’s children is a joint owner of an account, perceived unfairness or overreaching can be remedied by “setting-off” that child’s share. Families are splintered by relatively modest  sums. Regardless of the solution or language that is chosen, the Estate Planning attorney should carefully explore the impact that jointly-owned property may  have on the Client's estate.

Stiles Law, with offices located in Boston and Marshfield, Massachusetts, offers estate planning services including wills, trusts, powers of attorney, guardianship nominations, and more. Stiles Law serves all areas of eastern Massachusetts–the North Shore, Boston, and Cape Cod, in addition to the entire South Shore, including: Plymouth, Kingston, Duxbury, Hanover, Pembroke, Marshfield, Scituate, Norwell, Cohasset, Hull, Hingham, Weymouth, Braintree, Milton, Quincy, Dorchester, Charlestown, Brookline, Dedham, Canton, Rockland, and everywhere in between..

Copyright © 2018 Stiles Law, All rights reserved. Stiles Law is a Massachusetts licensed law firm and all content is based on Massachusetts law. The information presented above is meant to be used for general informational purposes and it should not be construed as legal advice or legal opinion on any specific facts.