Joint bank account and death

Gillingham

A few years ago my father was having difficulty managing his bank account, bills etc. and he asked if he could put me on his account. I ssid yes and his bank account became joint. He had a little bit of money but nothing life changing.  I managed to get him better deals on his utilities etc. Sadly he needed to sell his flat and go into sheltered housing.  His property was in very poor condition and he got a minimal amount for it. I helped him find his new place and sorted out his move and all that entailed. I got him disability equipment and a carer which he pays for. He pays rent, homecare and bills from this account. He has now told me that if he dies I am to keep half of what is left inthe bank and split the remaining half between me and my two brothers. They have not done anything to help him in years and have only seen him 2/3 times in the last seven years.  My mother is dead and I am his executor. His will says three way split as it was made years ago, before we had the joint account. Is what he wants legal or should I just split the money three ways. He wants to know as he is worried about his age and covid and would change his will to do this. I don't want any upset when he goes by my brothers thinking I got him to change his will. Dad is adamant that I can keep half as I am a joint account holder.  Any advice welcome. 

naedanger

Where does your father live?
Certainly in Scotland he needs to write a new will because although the bank will let you continue the account after his death the legal ownership really depends on whose money it was. And as it was his money it will come under his estate/will.
In England I think it may not be so clear cut and so the will should be again updated to explicitly cover the money in this account.

See the following link, which seems to be covering the position in England and Wales.
https://www.ibblaw.co.uk/insights/blog/joint-bank-accounts-post-death-clarity-intention-key#:~:text=The%20usual%20position%20is%20that,terms%20of%20the%20deceased's%20Will.&text=The%20starting%20point%20is%20a,will%20fall%20within%20his%20estate.

McKneff

In England whatever money is in a joint bank account goescto and belongs entirely to the surviving account holder.

Keep_pedalling

McKneff said:

In England whatever money is in a joint bank account goescto and belongs entirely to the surviving account holder.

Not that simple, it may be a joint account but all the money in it belongs to the OPs father and is part of his estate and on his death it needs to be treated as such by the executor. What is needed here is a new will.

Sea_Shell

Keep_pedalling said:

McKneff said:

In England whatever money is in a joint bank account goescto and belongs entirely to the surviving account holder.

Not that simple, it may be a joint account but all the money in it belongs to the OPs father and is part of his estate and on his death it needs to be treated as such by the executor. What is needed here is a new will.

This...

Our family have fallen foul of this rule, when the proceeds of a house sale were put in a joint account with another family member for "simplicity".   The executor was told in no uncertain terms, by a beneficiary's (and then their own) solicitor, that the money must be included in the estate, unless it could be proven that the source of the money was joint!!    Which is wasn't, as every penny had come from the sale of the deceased house and other savings.

Mojisola

Gillingham said:

He wants to know as he is worried about his age and covid and would change his will to do this. I don't want any upset when he goes by my brothers thinking I got him to change his will. Dad is adamant that I can keep half as I am a joint account holder. 

It would be better to get a new will made with a solicitor and for your father to write a letter, to be kept with the will, explaining that his estate is being split 50/25/25 because of all the help and attention you have given him over the years.  The solicitor should also make a note of this explanation in the notes he/she keeps of their meeting.

xylophone

OP, are you saying that all your father's cash is now held in an account in your joint names?

This is in England/Wales?

All the money in this account has been provided by your father and it is the account he uses regularly to pay his bills/receive his pension (s) etc?

If so, while the whole of the amount would have to be declared  as his  on any IHT forms,
the account would fall into your sole ownership and control on your father's death.

 I remember a long running post on another forum concerning a situation where a woman had been married twice and  the second marriage (to a widower with two  adult daughters), had brought considerable financial benefits.

She and this second husband went on to have a son of their own.

They both had wills which left their estates to each other but with the offspring as beneficiaries when both had passed on.

After the death of this  second  husband, she proceeded to change all accounts  into  joint names  with her son ( he was already the named beneficiary of the family home as the daughters owned their own homes).

When she died, while her unchanged will left bequests to her stepdaughters, all the cash was in joint accounts........you may imagine what followed.

Why doesn't your father open a  savings account in his  sole name and move half  his cash into that?

He could even leave a letter to the effect that he was aware that all money in the joint account would become yours on his death but felt that this expressed his gratitude for all your help over the years.

Stubod

In the UK, bank and building society accounts are generally held by the joint account holders as ‘joint tenants’, so that on the death of one account holder the funds in the account pass to the surviving account holder by the principle of survivorship.

This happens automatically, regardless of the terms of the deceased person’s will or the rules of intestacy and there is usually no need to obtain a grant of probate in order to transfer the funds. The surviving account holder can simply provide the bank or building society with the deceased joint account holder’s death certificate and the account will be transferred into the survivor’s name.

However, this may not necessarily be the case if the account holders have agreed otherwise. For example, they may have signed a declaration of trust stating that the account is held by them as ‘tenants in common’, rather than joint tenants, so that on the death of one of the account holders his or her share (as defined in the declaration of trust) passes under the terms of his or her will or intestacy, rather than to the other account holder.