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[00:12] Welcome to a new episode of “Just a Minute” by Landmark Law. This episode is presented to you by Mabel on August 18 2023, to help educate our listeners on various legal scenarios.

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[00:27] Continuing from last week’s topic, we are focusing today on the risks of holding assets jointly to avoid estate administration taxes.

[00:35] If holding assets jointly for the purpose of avoiding estate administration taxes, please note that:

a) you lose some control of the asset when you hold it jointly rather than in your own name;

b) there is a risk of misappropriation of funds by the joint owner;

c) there could be a relationship breakdown between owners;

d) the spouse of a joint owner may argue entitlement to the joint account during divorce proceedings;

e) the trustee in a bankruptcy may argue entitlement to a bankrupt joint owners account during a bankruptcy proceedings;

f) there may be a loss of principal residence designation for income tax purposes; and

g) where a bank account is held jointly between a parent and adult child  there is the presumption that the funds are held as a resulting trust for the parent's estate unless there is evidence of an intention to gift the funds to the adult child

[01:42] Landmark Law assists in Wills and Estates planning matters. Please feel free to book a 30-minutes consultation with us today at landmarklaw.ca/book

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