My husband and I have a CD, with my name first and then his, with no "and" or "or", and the TIN is my SSN Do I own this CD, as he is in a nursing home with Alzheimers? My grown children are saying that I have to put this money in a trust. I say it is mine. Can you advise?
If the CD is titled as you have described it, it appears to be a joint account, and therefore belongs to either of you and your husband or to both of you. That would be the case whether your husband is incapacitated or not. The order of names and the Social Security numbers are immaterial to ownership.
Your children may believe that you need to move the funds into a trust in order to protect them from having to be used in their father's care. Any such estate planning should to be made well before an individual has to move to a nursing home, if Medicaid funds will be used to pay for the individual's care. The pull-back rules can vary from state to state, but could affect funds moved into a trust within the pull-back period. Before you act to move any of the funds in the CD, you should contact a senior law attorney to discuss your options.
Published on BankingQuestions.com 3/23/10
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If the CD is titled as you have described it, it appears to be a 