Dick & Jane - Dealing With an Aging Relative

By Justin O’Dell, O’Dell & O’Neal Attorneys

Last month, we learned that Dick’s sister called him  informing him that Mom is starting to decline in health. As a result, Dick’s sister is going to be “added” to all of Mom’s bank accounts just in case she needs to pay her bills. Sound familiar? What could go wrong?

Unless Mom is very, very careful or has an overly diligent banker, an awful lot can go wrong. When someone walks into a bank and asks that a person be added to an account, banks generally operate on the assumption that the person is going to be added as a joint owner of the account. By default, a bank will generally select that the account is ”Joint With a Right of Survivorship” or “JTWROS”. Even if they do not expressly make that designation, Georgia law holds that the account is presumed to be with a right of survivorship, unless a contrary intention is indicated.

The problem occurs when Mom ultimately passes. By operation of Georgia law, the account belongs 100% to the joint owner at the moment of death and passes regardless of the contents or provisions of Mom’s will. The ownership transfer is only overcome by clear and convincing evidence of a contrary intention.

So, if Dick’s sister is added to the account and over time Mom begins pulling all of her money and property into that account (say for example, the sells her home and moves into a care facility), Dick’s sister would effectively receive all of those funds to the detriment of Dick’s Father or the other children.

For remedies to Dick & Jane’s dilemma, read more in Justin’s Dick & Jane Blog:

www.odelloneal.com/blog/dick-and-jane/aging-relatives