Should your Adult Child be Co-Signer on your Bank Account?

At one time or another, many seniors consider adding a child as a co-signer on his or her bank account. Whether that is wise depends on a common understanding of why the senior is adding the child, and the child’s integrity. For example, most bank accounts are owned as joint tenants with rights of survivorship. That means, if you add the child as a co-owner, the bank account probably passes outside of probate and is not distributed pursuant to the terms in your Will. If the child does not get along with your other children, the result can be that your estate is not distributed as intended. The following ACTEC video discusses whether adding your child to your bank account makes sense.