Houston Will and Trust Lawyer: Read This Before Adding Your Child’s Name to Your Banking Account!

The probate process in Houston can be long and costly, which leads people to think of creative ways of avoiding or speeding up the process.  One thing that people often do is to add their child’s name on their bank accounts. They believe by doing so, their child will have immediate access to the money rather than having to deal with the courts. Another thing that people try is to add their child’s name to their property deed to avoid having to wait for the probate process to transfer ownership. Either of these methods might work, but they are fraught with problems. Here are just of few of them.

1. Any decision you make about your assets requires mutual consent.

If you add your child’s name to the deed of your home, you made him or her joint owner. This means that any decision, like selling the property, will have to be approved by both of you. If your child disagrees with your decisions, it will be costly and will need court intervention. You can imagine the family problems that could result from that litigation.

2. “Mi casa es su casa” also means “My creditors are your creditors.”

If your child has financial problems, you should absolutely not add their name to any of your assets. If you do, the asset is now vulnerable to your child’s creditors. You could possibly lose your home due to your child’s financial mistakes.

3. The survivor may do anything they please with the assets.

Once you pass away, your child will become the sole owner of all your assets. Any verbal agreement you had with them to distribute your assets to the rest of your heirs is meaningless. I know you trust your child completely, but there is always a possibility that your child may change their mind and not follow your instructions.

There are other ways to avoid probate. If you want to speed up the process for distributing your assets to your heirs and make sure your wishes are followed, talk to an experienced Houston estate planning attorney. As you can see, simply adding a child as an owner of your assets can cause problems you never saw coming. Call us today at (281) 885-8826 to set up a consultation today.