(From the February 2015 Cain & Cain Newsletter)
For many married couples, they often have one primary checking account that they pay all household expenses and bills from. Deciding which spouse’s trust to fund that account to can have significant implications for the client.
If the social security number associated with the account is changed during the funding process, banks will generally insist that the old account be closed and a new account opened. Thus, maintaining the same social security number post funding may help to eliminate added frustration for the client.
As a general rule, most banks monthly statements will list the spouse whose social security number is associated with the account first on the statement. Thus, you may wish to fund bank accounts to the spouse’s trust whose name appears first on the monthly statement.
-Mitch Janik