What Happens to a Joint Bank Account When One Owner Dies Without a Will in Nevada?
Joint bank accounts may be useful for spouses, family members, and business partners who share expenses or help each other with their finances. However, multiple owners can create some issues, including who takes ownership if one account owner passes away without a will. Contact our estate planning lawyers to help you navigate the next steps after your loved one has passed away.
What is a Joint Bank Account?
A joint bank account is held by two or more people, all of whom typically have equal access to and rights over the account’s funds. Joint accounts are normally opened by couples, family members, business partners, or those who need shared access to money for specific purposes.
Each holder can deposit and withdraw funds independently. All holders are responsible for managing the account and its transactions.
How Do I Open a Joint Bank Account?
You must complete an application with the personal details of all the account holders. Some banks will also request proof of address and identity through utility bills, passports, or driver’s licenses. A bank may require the presence of all the people you plan to add as joint account holders.
Who Owns What?
Though a bank may label one person the primary account holder, if the account is truly a joint account, all account holders own everything together. After money is deposited, all the funds belong fully and equally to each account holder, no matter who makes the deposits, and any account holder can close the account or transfer money to another account. Given these considerations, you’ll need to trust your fellow account holders.
What Happens If Someone Dies Without a Will?
When a Nevada resident dies without a will, the probate court will appoint an administrator of the deceased person’s estate (an “estate” is the legal entity administering the deceased person’s debts and assets). The term for dying without a will is “intestate.” After paying remaining bills, taxes, and fees, through the deceased person’s estate, his or her assets will be given to his or her surviving next of kin (known as heirs), as determined by Nevada law.
However, with a will, you can appoint your own executor, who the court may approve to be in charge of your estate. Additionally, after your debts are paid, your remaining assets will go to the beneficiaries you designate in your own will, rather than passing to your heirs as determined by Nevada law.
What Happens If a Joint Bank Account Holder Passes Away Intestate?
Most joint bank accounts have a right of survivorship. If the account has a right of survivorship, then when one account holder dies, funds will pass to the surviving account holder(s) equally. This would occur whether the deceased person has a will or not.
However, if the account does not have a right of survivorship, and is set up as a “tenancy in common,” the deceased person’s share of the account goes to his or her estate. For example, if there are three account holders, in a tenancy in common one-third would go to the deceased person’s estate, where it would be used to pay the deceased’s debts or pass to the deceased’s heirs.
Surviving account holders should show the bank a copy of the death certificate for the deceased holder as soon as possible. The bank should retitle the account in the survivors’ names.
Contact an Estate Planning Lawyer in Nevada
If you have substantial assets in bank accounts, you should contact an estate planning attorney about creating an estate plan or updating the one you have now. We can discuss how you want these assets treated after your death and who should get them. There may be better ways to accomplish your goals than a joint account.
Whether you’re in Henderson or Las Vegas, contact our team of experienced estate planning attorneys in Nevada at Lee Kiefer & Park, for a free consultation. Use our online contact form or call us at 702-333-1711.
Attorney Kennedy Lee practices in all aspects of trust and estate law. He views all legal issues from multiple angles (e.g. from litigation to administration point of view) to provide a higher quality of service to our client.
