Can I add my daughter’s or son’s name to my bank account instead of having a power of attorney?
Transcript
Yes, you can add your children to your bank account. I don’t normally advise clients to do that for a couple of reasons. Normally, people would do that for two reasons. Number one, to enable their children to have access to the account and number two, to allow the account to pass to their children at death. A power of attorney will accomplish access to the account to pay your bills and a beneficiary designation will provide them with the funds at your death.
If you put their names on the account, that could make that account subject to their creditors, lawsuits, if they’re getting a divorce, all of those situations can then affect your bank account. I recommend you use a power of attorney and a beneficiary designation rather than adding them as owners to the account.