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mcwindle

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (TN)? My father has pancreatic cancer and is at the point where treatment is no longer working? He has a will that simply states all assets are divided equally among his three daughters. The only assets he has is a life insurance policy (he just found out he had this it is part of a pension plan and he was unaware of the benefit so we are in the process of finding out who is the on it as the benificiary now) and his accounts at the bank which are a money market account and his checking. He recently had me added to his checking and money market account so that I could write bills and transfer money in the event he was too sick to do so. My question is since I am now seen as a joint owner of the the account what will this do to the will if anything? I don't want to cheat my sisters out of anything or cause anyone to pay taxes when we go to split things and the IRS say I am giving them my money instead of my Dads money since my name is on the account also.
 


LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (TN)? My father has pancreatic cancer and is at the point where treatment is no longer working? He has a will that simply states all assets are divided equally among his three daughters. The only assets he has is a life insurance policy (he just found out he had this it is part of a pension plan and he was unaware of the benefit so we are in the process of finding out who is the on it as the benificiary now) and his accounts at the bank which are a money market account and his checking. He recently had me added to his checking and money market account so that I could write bills and transfer money in the event he was too sick to do so. My question is since I am now seen as a joint owner of the the account what will this do to the will if anything? I don't want to cheat my sisters out of anything or cause anyone to pay taxes when we go to split things and the IRS say I am giving them my money instead of my Dads money since my name is on the account also.
You simply treat it as your dad's money and divide it equally with your sisters. However, you need to make sure that you pay all of his debts before dividing the money. You may find that there is not a huge amount left after doing so.
 

mcwindle

Junior Member
He has no debts and his medical bills are paid due to his cancer being cause by his workplace...my concern is that because the money will be about 100k... when splitting it there will be too much for me to give to them as a gift because the limit is $14k a year i believe without paying taxes if it is truely considered my money at that time.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
He has no debts and his medical bills are paid due to his cancer being cause by his workplace...my concern is that because the money will be about 100k... when splitting it there will be too much for me to give to them as a gift because the limit is $14k a year i believe without paying taxes if it is truely considered my money at that time.
Its permissible to treat the money as if you were on the account for dad's convenience...and that is the truth. In any case, the worst that would happen is that you would have to file a gift tax return. There would be no actual taxes due unless you have already surpassed your lifetime exclusion for gifting, which at this time is several million dollars.
 

curb1

Senior Member
He can dole out the money in one year without any tax consequences. But you are correct he could spread it out if he wanted. This situation is not a problem.
 

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