Being On a Parent's Bank Account During Divorce

I live in the state of Illinois. I am planning on filing for divorce. My mother would like to place my name on her bank account so that I will have the authority to take care of her financial issues should she become ill. She would be the primary on the account. I would like to know if my husband would be able to take away any of the funds from my mother's account during the divorce. If so, is there a way to protect her funds from my husband but still keep my name on the account?

I should probably add that I have been separated from my husband since 2008 but not legally.

A Power of Attorney will give you the authority without the ownership.

nextwife said:

A Power of Attorney will give you the authority without the ownership.

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I completely agree...that is the far better way to handle things at this point.

so are you guys saying that it would be possible for my husband to get money from that account during a divorce even if the money does not belong to me?

Marisela said:

so are you guys saying that it would be possible for my husband to get money from that account during a divorce even if the money does not belong to me?

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Yes, we are saying that. That is why its better if you have Power of Attorney on the account rather than being named on the account.

LdiJ said:

Yes, we are saying that. That is why its better if you have Power of Attorney on the account rather than being named on the account.

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A few things. The POA end when your mom passes. Account ownership does not. If your husband's name is not on the account, then he has no access to the money. As long as you do not co-mingle the funds with your own, your divorce attorney should be able to explain the origin and ownership of those assets.

Antigone*of*Greece said:

A few things. The POA end when your mom passes. Account ownership does not. If your husband's name is not on the account, then he has no access to the money. As long as you do not co-mingle the funds with your own, your divorce attorney should be able to explain the origin and ownership of those assets.

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Yes, but far better to avoid the issue by using a POA rather than adding OP's name to the account. Then there's no room for confusion or need to spend money fighting husband's attempt to take it.

If the amount of money is large enough that estate planning issues are important, then a trust of some type would probably make sense. But if it's THAT much money, simply adding daughter's name to the account could trigger gift tax.

Antigone*of*Greece said:

A few things. The POA end when your mom passes. Account ownership does not.

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Maybe Mom's intent is financial assistance, not to automatically give all those funds to only her daughter? Poster may have other siblings who should also have a right to share in whatever assets mom still has when she passes. Or creditors her estate should pay?

nextwife said:

Maybe Mom's intent is financial assistance, not to automatically give all those funds to only her daughter? Poster may have other siblings who should also have a right to share in whatever assets mom still has when she passes. Or creditors her estate should pay?

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Those are also valid issues...again, a POA is absolutely the better way to go here.

Her mother can easily add her to the account later (after the divorce is final) if there is a valid reason to do so.

I want to thank all of you for your responses...you don't know how helpful they have all been. I went to another site where Lawyers answer questions, and I thought I'd post his answer here, in case this question can help other people out there with the same issue.

"It may make better sense for the time being for you to have your Mother execute a Power of Attorney form for you to be able to do as you need with her finances. You can also become a signatory on the account without be added as a joint owner. This will leave less matters open to attack, so to speak, should things get crazy between you and your husband in the divorce. The best thing for you to do is to go and see an estate planner for your Mother's estate. Explain your concerns and make sure that you have the documents in place to be able to do as you need. You can add yourself to the accounts once the divorce is final."

And to answer some of your questions, I am an only child, so there wouldn't be anyone else to leave the funds to except me. Our main concern is that my husband doesn't get his paws on any of her funds, even though he wouldn't be aware of the account.