What Does Right of Survivorship Mean?
Right of survivorship means that if one of the account holders dies, the surviving account holders retain ownership of all the funds in the bank account. In the case of an account owned by a mother and daughter jointly with rights of survivorship, if one person died, the other would retain the right to money in the account. Other Types of Joint Accounts In cases where an account is held by two people but no right of survivorship has been established, upon the death of one of the account holders, the entire account will likely end up in probate court for adjudication. Joint accounts without rights of survivorship are more common in business banking than they are in personal banking. Requirements for Unmarried Couples For a bank account or other property to be fully covered by the rights of survivorship in many jurisdictions, the owners must define the joint account, usually specifically referred to as a joint tenancy, in writing. However, this joint tenancy doesn’t protect the shared as
