Life After Love Gone Wrong Podcast: Season 3, Episode 4 - Splitting Costs: Forensic Accounting in Divorce
Recently, I attended the 2024 Summer Meeting for the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) in Toronto. While there I presented to ACTEC’s Digital Property Committee on ghost hacking. Ghost hacking is when a...more
Your attorney is your advocate. A forensic accountant is your financial fact-finder. In this episode, Sandra Fava and guest Megan Sartor, a forensic accountant, explore the symbiotic relationship between lawyers and...more
Financial powers of attorney give the named agent broad control over the principal’s assets and thus are a key component of estate planning. Such powers allow the agent to help if and when the principal becomes incapacitated....more
Your friendly neighborhood branch banker suggests that you change all your accounts to either joint with your kids or to name your kids as beneficiaries on all your accounts (a “pay on death” beneficiary designation). ...more
In the second part of this two-part series, you will learn about financial pitfalls to avoid in the divorce process. Experienced divorce counsel can guide you to ensure that financial decisions don’t cost you credibility,...more
Adding an adult child as a joint owner of a parent’s bank account seems like a simple and straightforward solution that allows the child to help care for mom or dad without the expense or hassle of preparing powers of...more
The pandemic may be delaying weddings, but people are still moving forward living their lives together – and making some unfortunate financial decisions. Unfortunate because they are not protected by laws that would protect...more
David F. Johnson, lead writer for the Texas Fiduciary Litigator blog, presented his paper on “Joint Account Litigation in Texas” to the Texas Bankers Association via a webinar on April 29, 2020. This presentation addresses...more
Does a creditor who obtains a judgment against a debtor in Florida and then records that judgment in Maryland have a single judgment that it can enforce in Florida and Maryland or a Florida judgment and a separate Maryland...more
A durable power of attorney (POA) allows the person creating the POA, called the "principal," to name a trusted agent who can act on his behalf in almost any situation. But because of the risk of abuse, many banks will...more
Often an aging parent will add an adult child to the parent’s account as a joint holder to assist with asset management or bill payment. However, this may lead to an unintended result in California when the parent dies. The...more
Many people, especially seniors, see joint ownership as an easy way to avoid probate and plan for incapacity, but there are major drawbacks to joint accounts. When people own property as joint tenants each person has an...more
An account that is titled in your name and that of your child “with right of survivorship” passes to your child upon your death “by operation of law.” That is, your Will does not control the disposition of this account. When...more
In Fletcher v. Whitaker, a brother withdrew $25,000 from a joint bank account while the owner of the funds (decedent) was still alive. No. 02-17-00138-CV, 2018 Tex. App. LEXIS 8329 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth October 11, 2018, no...more
This presentation will cover the creation of joint accounts, the ownership of funds in these accounts, Texas Estate’s Code provisions and Texas common law regarding the requirements for effective survivorship language,...more
Editor's Note - In This Issue. The Department of Labor (DOL) filed a Notice of Administrative Action seeking to delay the Fiduciary Rule until July 2019; federal banking agencies issued guidance on the capital treatment of...more
Joint bank account arrangements are as useful as they are common, providing a simple means for transferring an individual's assets to others - either during his/her life or post death by operation of a survivorship...more
The United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Sixth Circuit recently clarified whether a trustee could rely upon 11 U.S.C. § 542, and in the process side-step 11 U.S.C. § 549, to recover an unauthorized post-petition...more
Estate planners and litigators face new challenges in light of recent developments in case law and statutory changes affecting the law of testamentary capacity. Gone are the simple rules that estate planners have used for...more
In Brooksby v. Nevada State Bank, 129 Nev. Adv. Op. 82 (Nov. 7, 2013), Nevada State Bank obtained a deficiency judgment against the guarantor of a commercial loan and then garnished funds contained in bank accounts jointly...more
Many people believe that joint accounts are a good way to avoid probate and transfer money to loved ones. But while joint accounts can be useful in certain circumstances, they can have dire consequences if not used properly....more
Inattention to beneficiary designations and jointly held assets can quickly unravel an estate plan. Many don’t realize that their will doesn’t control the disposition of “nonprobate assets,” such as life insurance policies,...more
In this article: - I. Introduction - II. Valid Survivorship Accounts - III. Joint Accounts Between Spouses - IV. Burden Of Proving Enforcable Survivorship Accounts - V. Proving Contents Of...more