joint account investment & finance definition

Is a joint account preferable for investing couples?

Joint ownership occurs when more than one person has rights and privileges to an account. It is practical to invest jointly in many situations, as access or availability of the assets occurs almost immediately upon death of either of the parties. By law, ownership passes directly to the surviving joint owner, even if a will states otherwise. However, for larger estates (over $1 million), other forms of ownership may be preferred. Proper estate planning to lower estate taxes or to transfer assets to trusts rather than to an individual would call for assets to be moved out of joint ownership.

Jeffrey S. Levine, CPA, MST, Alkon & Levine, PC, Newton, MA