Adding someone to a bank account usually means they become a joint owner. You need to look at the contract between the bank and the depositors to know for sure. If a joint ownership was created, the account generally becomes the surviving owners at the passing of one of them. This is called joint ownership with the right of survivorship. Once again, you have to look at the contract with the bank. If the account is yours, you are free to do anything you want to with the funds. But, each state has its own laws on inheritance or estate taxes. I suggest you speak to a local lawyer or, perhaps, call the county courthouse and ask them if such a tax might be due. It seems unlilkely that any federal estate tax would be due since the exemption is $5,000,000. I hope this helps you.
Answered on Jan 13th, 2012 at 10:22 PM