|
 |
Home >> Accounts >> Certificates of Deposit
Four on a Joint Account makes me Nervous
There is about $4.5M in CDs on which I am listed as a joint owner. There is myself, my grandfather, and two uncles. We are all joint owners, but I am worried that one of the uncles may cash in all of the CDs, leaving me with nothing. If he were to do that, is there anything in the state of Michigan that I can do to get that money back? The bank says that since we are all joint owners, we all have the same ownership of theaccount, but if you look at it from a legal standpoint, is there anything that can be done, or would the point be made that we are all joint owners, and that would be final? If the uncle were to redeem the CDs, is there any way to go to the bank to have them reverse that and have the money brought back into the account, once a cashier's check has been given to him?
|
|
 The bank has described the situation to you accurately. You are all joint owners, and each of you has the same rights in those CDs. Your uncle could be having the same concerns about you as you are having about him. If one of the foursome decides to take some of the funds, the other owners can't expect the bank to go after him to get the money back, and the bank cannot stop payment on a cashier's check.
Your only recourse in such an event would be to attempt to bring legal action against the individual. However, since you are presumably all willing participants in joint accounts, a court would not be very sympathetic.
If the four of you can't trust one another, you may want to agree on a different arrangement that provides some protections for each of the four parties. Check with an attorney for guidance if you want to pursue such an arrangement.
Published on BankingQuestions.com 4/09/10
|
| |
|
Accounts
Article
Q&A
Podcast
Video
Blog
Discussions
PDF
Powerpoint
