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Posted by Me-manny on May 9, 2008, 12:16 pm
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What are the pros and cons of registering stock certificates in both
husband and wife's names,
vs. only the husband's (or wife's) name?
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Posted by John Levine on May 9, 2008, 2:09 pm
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>What are the pros and cons of registering stock certificates in both
>husband and wife's names, vs. only the husband's (or wife's) name?
It's hard to say. If you live together, file taxes jointly, don't
expect to lose any large lawsuits, will have an estate of less than
$1M when you die, and aren't planning to get divorced, it probably
makes no difference. Otherwise:
* If you file taxes separately, dividends and capital gains are taxed
to the owner. (Duh.)
* If one of you loses a lawsuit, assets owned only by the person may
be somewhat easier to attach than assets owned jointly or assets owned
by the other spouse. (This is more of an issue with an indivisible
asset like a house than stock where you could easily sell half of it.)
* If your estate is over $1M, some estate planning involving who owns
what can minimize inheritance taxes.
* If you get divorced, the party whose name is on the stock may be
somewhat more likely to keep it.
Also, keep in mind that there are several forms of joint ownership.
The most common among married couples are joint tenants or tenants by
the entirety, in which the surviving spouse owns the asset when either
dies, but tenants in common where each owns 50% can be useful for
estate planning.
And finally, do you really mean certificates? In most cases it's
cheaper and a lot less hassle to keep your stock in a brokerage
account in street name.
Regards,
John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://www.johnlevine.com, ex-Mayor
"More Wiener schnitzel, please", said Tom, revealingly.
========================================= MODERATOR'S COMMENT:
- the estate exclusion for 2007-8 is $2M. In 2009 it's $3.5M. But
assuming it drops back to $1M at some point is the conservative way to go.
--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
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