Filed 5/4/17. Grandpa wants me on account.

[DCrews1]

i filed for chapter 13 on 5/4/17 my grandpa is in the early stages of demensia and asked me to be a signer on his checking account in case something should happen. We checked into a private cpa to handle his account but with their fee it wouldn't leave him anything after bills/medical/living expenses. His only other option is his daughter whom is always borrowing money and never repaying him also has a pill addiction. The attorney said it would be ok to do in care of on the checking account but I don't see how and the attorney got his money and is horrible now with communication. Any suggestions. I hate to leave my grandpa in a bad spot but I don't want the courts to count his income because i don't have any use for anything monetarily from him.

[justbroke]

It is not your account. You would be a custodian or signer only but not an owner of any funds. This is quite common and is no different than you filing for bankruptcy while being a custodian of your child's (or children's) bank account. It's simply not your money and not within grasp of the Chapter 13 Trustee.

It's not even that a Chapter 13 Trustee would care about you being a custodian on an aging parent's account. God forbid that something happens and your parent passes, you would still be a custodian and your parent's estate would need to deal with their expenses. That would still not make the account your account. If there are proceeds from any insurance or property bequeathed or bestowed, then and only then would your Chapter 13 Estate (and the Trustee) may want to obtain any non-exempt amounts.

I'm assuming that you'll be a signer only and not a joint account holder. Your attorney is telling you to put in "in care of" as a custodial account (or joint account) holder with signor privileges. Just don't commingle your money or otherwise use the account as your own. I still see no issues.

I believe your attorney.

[LadyInTheRed]

Another option, or something your grandfather may want to do in addition to adding you as an authorized signor on his checking account, is to execute a power of attorney for property naming you as agent. Your profile says you are in Illinois. You can download the IL statutory power of attorney from at https://www.illinois.gov/sites/gac/f...ges/Forms.aspx, under "advanced directives." Your grandfather may also want to make use of the other forms in that category. He might also want to create a living trust and name you as a co-trustee or successor trustee to take over when he can no longer manage his own finances. Nolo is a good source: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encycloped...ust-32026.html. But, I somewhat disagree with that site when it says that the main advantage of a trust is to avoid probate after death. It is also a good way to allow somebody to step in and manage the trustor's affairs during their life when they are no longer able to do so.

If your grandfather has any significant wealth, he should consult an attorney instead of doing DYI estate planning.

You acting as an agent under a power of attorney or trustee of a trust will not affect your BK during your his lifetime as long as you do not have the power to pay your own expenses from his funds. If he dies while you are a Chap 13 and are a beneficiary of his estate, a BK trustee might have a claim to your interest in his estate. But, that would be the case even if you aren't an agent under his power of attorney or trustee of his trust.