Let me give you a real life example, and some guidelines to follow. We have a customer who had a serious heart attack. At that time, he had an individual checking account with only himself as signer. Fortunately, he survived, but he was on a respirator for over a week. His family needed access to his account so they could pay his bills. Since he was unable to give verbal or written authorization, they were not granted access to his account. Luckily, after a week, he was able to once again talk, and could verbally give limited account access to his family for them to pay his bills.

A couple of simple precautions could have made this experience easier to navigate. Consider the following:

• Have more than one signer/owner on your bank accounts--consider adding a spouse, child or power of attorney
• Designate a Payable on Death Beneficiary--it will be much faster and less costly than letting your accounts go through probate 
• Transfer your accounts when you establish a trust by re-titling those accounts   
• Check the legal titling on your investment accounts and insurance as well

An annual check of your accounts will keep things up to date and ensure that your money is available for your needs. If you are unsure of the optimal way to title your accounts, our Client Service Representatives would be happy to review that information with you.