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My sister and I are on her will to inherit 50% of her remaining estate. When I became a joint owner of her bank account; they told me that I could not inherit my share and have my sister designated as POD. How will I handle the remainder of her account when she passes?

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As long as you are a joint holder of a bank account, when the other party dies, the money left in the account is yours. It is not part of an estate.
I was a joint holder of my Mom's account. Her will designated each of her children (8 us altogether) as heirs to her property. Upon her death, I paid all remaining bills and distributed the balance in the account 8 ways.
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KaleyBug Feb 2023
Same here, my brother and I are on dads checking account. It has worked out perfectly because we are paying the bills as they come in since his death. Once all the checks clear we will close the account and each take 50%
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JoanLF: Power of Attorney exists only when the principal is living. The joint checking account will be your's upon your mother's demise.
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The joint owner of a banking account is the sole owner upon the death of the other owner. The account will be yours upon your mother's death.
You POA ends at the death of your mother. It pertains only to a living person. You will no longer pay anything nor sign anything as POA.
Upon your mother's death the executor of the will takes on the powers formerly belonging to the POA. If that is you, then you will take on the role of distributing the estate as your mother requested, and all other legal and financial matters.
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JoanLF, welcome to the forum. I remember back when I had joint checking account with my Dad, just as a co-signer for any checks.

Once my Dad had passed the job of POA no longer is needed. Now it becomes the job of the Executor to which I had been named. I had to take that checking account and close it..... open up a new account that read "Estate of _______". From that account any legit bills that came I would pay. Bills for Dad's credit card, medical bills, etc.

I needed to wait until after Probate was completed before I could inherit anything in Dad's Will/Trust.
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Caregiverstress Feb 2023
Not sure why you had to go through probate if your dad had a trust? Trust assets avoid probate.
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I was on my parents' checking account for years before they died or before I had anything to do with their finances.

After my mom died (the last one to go), technically the account became mine, but as their estate was to be split 50/50 between my brother and myself, I'll just write him a check for half the balance and take the other half for myself.

It didn't need to be in writing -- it was the right thing to do.
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JoAnn29 Feb 2023
If that money is not part of the estate, righting him a check may consider it gifting. I would check that out. May mean brother will have to pay taxes.
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You need probate attorney to handle your question. It's possible the bank gave you incorrect information that has resulted in your sister being the only one named as POD...transferring balance to her name at death.

Your POA designation ends at death. I would think that now, probate follows the will, however the will can only designate what is actually left over in her estate. If bank account transfers to sister at death, it probably won't be part of her 'estate' (because it already belongs to someone else).

This is definitely a question to address with the atty when you probate will.
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I am with frequent here. It all depends on how the acct was set up. I was on my Moms but only so I could sign checks. If as POA, like said that stops at death. I am to understand, that POD (payment upon death) needs to be placed on the acct with a beneficiary named.

I would not pay a lawyer. A bank officer should know what the State Law is. You may need to do what Frequent said and transfer the money to an estate acct. Once probate is done, then you split it.
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my2cents Feb 2023
The bank is who told them to put sister alone as POD and told poster she could not inherit the balance.

I'm inclined to think the bank gave them incorrect information. It may have come from bank thinking a POA is authorized to 'help' with financial decisions and would be a conflict to inherit assets toward yourself by using a POA. I'm sure that happens all the time with children who are angling toward cutting other siblings out of the pot of gold. An attorney in that state could sort it out.

Hopefully the siblings get along and can sort all the assets out fairly by splitting it all down the middle.
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As I understand it POA rights ends upon the death of the person. If you have a joint account nothing needs to be done, you are able just to withdraw the money. Technically you don't have to share it, it is not part of probate however if you know your mother wanted your sister to have half morally you should give her her share of that money. I'm unclear as to why the bank would tell you you couldn't inherit your share. Perhaps you need to add more information.
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Breezy23 Feb 2023
ok I'm sorry I misread POD as POA, my error. So in order to avoid probate talk to your sister now and if you can agree take that money out and put it into a joint account with you and your sister as account owners. You both have to agree that this money is to be used for your mother but upon her death you both will share the remainder of funds. The more you can avoid her estate going to probate the more her assets will survive as an inheritance.
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If it’s a joint bank account then you become the sole owner upon the death of your mother. It’s yours. One way you can try to get around the gift tax is to open a new account with 1/2 the money and put you and your sister on it, with the understanding that it is her money alone. Or put your sister on it as signer and designate her as beneficiary. That way she has access to the money but legally it’s still yours. However, look at the gift tax rules. The lifetime cap is much higher than most people expect and it may not be an issue at all.
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my2cents Feb 2023
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who is the "they" you are talking about?
a joint account automatically becomes the sole property of the surviving account holder.
POD means pay on death and it only goes into effect when both account holders die.
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