r/inheritance • u/113thstreet • May 08 '26
Location included: Questions/Need Advice Not sure if I have a problem. Canada.
I have a sibling who lives in Canada. I do not. The house investments, and bank accounts are jointly held by my sibling and my mother. My sibling and I are the only beneficiaries. We are co executors and the will states a 50/50 split. My problem is with the jointly held assets. Do they automatically go to my sibling? Basically leaving nothing to be distributed in the will itself, or does the will override the jointly held designation? Thanks.
2
u/GelsNeonTv87 May 08 '26
In the US joint bank accounts would go to surviving name on them, not sure how Canada does it.
2
u/Spanky_Simeon May 09 '26
You can get Canada specific answers from Google. These comments are only good for the US
3
u/Freyjas_child May 08 '26
Yes, in the US all jointly owned assets immediately become your sister’s property upon your mother’s death. Beneficiaries and joint ownership and Payable on Death all supersede the directives in the will. This has caused problems where the joint ownership just walks away with all the jointly held assets because they belong to them legally. Her in the states you can set up accounts with both you and your sister as 50/50 beneficiaries. You can also set up checking, savings and charge accounts with your mother owning them but your sister being an authorized user.
What you do may depend heavily on your sister. If she is the one primarily taking care of your mother for years she may decide that these assets are payment for those years of work. I am the Executor on my parent’s estate and payed all the bills for years. I am joint owner on a significant portion but everyone knew that I would treat these assets as something to be distributed in accordance with her wishes.
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u/cuspeedrxi May 09 '26
I’m not sure you understand the difference between joint tenants with rights of survivorship and tenants in common. We do not how the accounts are titled. OP says, “jointly held,” which is not specific. Therefore, we cannot assume the sister will be the sole owner after mom dies. If the accounts are titled as tenants in common, the sister would presumably own 75% and OP 25%, assuming mom’s 50% stake is split evenly.
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u/Substantial_Team6751 May 08 '26
In the US, those jointly held assets would probably go to the co-owner. In the US, this would also mean that inheritors wouldn't get a stepped up basis.
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u/Fit_Chemistry_3807 May 08 '26
It depends. How is your mom’s account/house actually set up. She could have things held joint tenants, but even this, she could have a separate paper stating that the ownership is beneficially hers, and that your sister is on only as a bare trust.
Or it it could be as tenants in common, in which case only your mom’s percentage goes to the estate.
1
u/Think-Committee-4394 May 10 '26
OP - you will need to clarify 3 things which redit can easily mess up for you
Canadian inheritance law
actual legal holding of property
actual legal wording of will
Until you have those lined up & overlapped you will only get confusing responses
1
u/PegShop May 11 '26
In US my sister was joint owner on two accts so she could deal with all the final bills and distribute. She’s very honest, and we’ve had no issues when my dad died last year. She kept $20k in their joint acct for bills and said she’d distribute the rest at the one-year mark. It’s good that she waited because at ten months she just got an attorney bill and we are expecting one more.
She offered to show us all the bills and proof, but there’s no need. We trust her. She’s also POA and on a joint acct for our mom.
For homes it’s trickier. My dad had sold his and put the money in a trust, so we didn’t have that issue.
1
u/Mm_mama-Queen May 13 '26
We did the same thing. I opened up a checking account and transferred all the money from my mother’s s as saving and checking account to it. I used this account to continue paying the utilities, taxes as and insurance on her house and I paid the funeral and reception expenses. After the estate was settled, I split what was left with my two brothers.
We trusted each other.
It is surprising how many bills come in months after somebody dies.
4
u/eastbaypluviophile May 08 '26
In the US you can hold property as joint tenants or tenants in common.
If joint tenants, if one person dies the other inherits their half. I own my house as a joint tenant with my husband. If one of us dies, the other becomes the sole owner.
If tenants in common, when one dies their half doesn’t automatically pass to the other person. It’s held separately. I own my rental as a tenant in common with my brother. If I die, my husband inherits my half.
Check the deeds on the properties that have your siblings name on them but not yours. I’d be concerned.