Sorry if my question is a bit vague and generalized.
My parents have a couple of bank accounts held jointly and 1 account in a mutual fund company held jointly. The amounts are not huge...several thousands of dollars, at the most. They were asking me if they can put my dad's revocable living trust (or my mom's RLT, does not matter really) as "beneficiary" in ALL of the joint accounts (no need to divide the amounts). I really do not know what to tell them, except to consult with their attorney, but I'm curious how this work out.
"do you realize that the tod is meaningless after the first parent dies, since it can easily be changed by the living parent" ? No I didn't, thanks for telling me. I don't think either will change what's on the tod, once the other partner dies, though.
From what I know, if my dad, for example, dies first, then the account becomes my mom's and when she dies, the account is transferred to the trust, if the trust is the beneficiary. Am I correct in this thinking?
I also don't think they will pay federal estate tax (or if they do, not much) because their estate falls under the $1M exemption (at least in 2010).
Thanks for your inputs kiawah and TrustUser.