Q: executor is telling me we will need to transfer the $ fr. me &my moms joint account to estate.any legality if I don’t

A: My previous answer should be sufficient, but if you are being bullied or threatened with some legal consequence if you do not do as you are being told, then you should consult a lawyer to go over in more detail exactly what the circumstances are that give rise to your concerns. The surviving owner of a joint account with right of survival does not owe anything to the estate of the deceased joint owner. Unless there was some other arrangement in place, in writing, that limited the role of the surviving joint owner to that of a fiduciary or trustee, and their addition to the account was solely for convenience and benefit of the deceased joint owner without an intention to transfer sole ownership in the account, then (in the absence of fraud, undue influence or mental incompetence of the deceased joint owner at the time the other owner was added to the account) I do not see how there can be any legal dispute over the issue. Maryland law treats jointly titled accounts as being held with right of survival unless stated otherwise as part of the title documents on the account. Verbal understandings or contrary intentions do not change this result.

A: As another attorney noted, the general rule is that joint accounts with survivorship rights pass to the survivor without going through probate.

However, there are some circumstances under which the general rule does not apply and funds in a joint account are construed as being held in a constructive trust (not a written trust) for the benefit of other heirs. For example, if a parent puts a child on an account and says "I'm only putting you on the account to sign checks, when I die I want the money to be split equally among Bobbie, Sally and you", the facts may rise to the level of creating a constructive trust. In such a scenario, if the person holding the funds refused to disburse, it could potentially give rise to a legal cause of action.

An online post cannot really analyze specific situations so if you are involved in a situation where someone is demanding that you release funds, you are well advised to reach out to an attorney handling probate litigation to sit down and analyze your particular situation.