Spotlight on joint accounts

There’s a good chance at least some of your clients share their bank account with a family member. A husband and wife, a father and daughter — joint accounts have been around since banking began. But just because your client and her son can both access the same cash, survivorship does not guarantee ownership. The rules around joint ownership are confusing, so don’t get caught dispensing the wrong advice.

1. There’s more to joint ownership than you think Joint ownership can be tricky — does your client want a family member to inherit the account, or should the assets be transferred to the estate? Lawyers Arthur J. Fish and Richard E. Austin say it’s all about intention. Read more.

2. The joint tenancy trap: Joint names no longer ensure ownership Mackenzie Financial’s Sandy Cardy explains everything you wanted to know, and more, about Joint With Right of Survivorship. Read more.

3. Disjointed rights part one: Two similar cases, two different rulings AIM Trimark tax expert Jamie Golombek outlines two court cases that eventually wound up in the Supreme Court of Canada. In part one, Golombek discusses Pecore v. Pecore. Read more.

4. Disjointed rights part two: What’s the intention? You might think you’ve figured this joint ownership thing out after reading Jamie Golombek’s first piece, but read this story on Saylor v. Brooks and you’ll learn that such cases are rarely straightfoward. Read more.

5. Disjointed rights part three: The Supreme Court decision Get the skinny on joint ownership from the highest court in the land. Jamie Golombek’s third story reveals what conclusion the Supreme Court of Canada came to in Pecore v. Pecore and Saylor v. Brooks. Read more.

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.