If my name is on mom's checking account is her money safe from the courts after she dies?

Find an attorney that knows about Recovery. Every state is different. If a person is on Medicaid, any bank account is considered theirs, even if you put money into it jointly, it is considered a gift to them. If they are applying for Medicaid any joint account is considered theirs. When they pass, Recovery has first rights to their assets.

my mother died and i am on my mothers checking account I have a brother not listed in will .what are my legal responsibilites to him ?

Sorry for your loss!! If you are executor, you would typically carry out Mom's wishes as expressed in the Will. You might want to make him a gift form your inheritance if it is substantial but I guess that would depend on all the circumstances! Legal help if in doubt is worth it.

My mom has bounced checks consistently for over a year now. By the time she gets her monthly SS check she is at such a minus that it just snowballs into the next month. I want to put money her account this month and start her fresh. But she won't stop writing checks, paying stuff over the phone with her debit card and drawing case out of her account, all of which like a domino affect, puts her in a minus for the following month. She has no assets or income other than her SS check. With very strict monitoring she can make it. I want complete control of her checking account and give her an allowance every week to live on. How can this be done?

DS, is she not capable of handling finances now due to cognitive issues, or has she always mismanaged money? If it is cognitive issues, she may need more care in the near future and you may need to start planning for that.

Some ways to do it are to negotiate with her to run all expenses by you first if she might cooperate and remember the agreement. If not, try to get a financial POA and change her bank account so that it does not permit ATM or debit card overdrafts. You may be able to set up online access to her account and do the right things with it, such as moving most of her money to a different new account that bills can be paid from, and do not give her that new checkbook; you really should not do that as if you were her unless you have that POA. Or, if she is really incapacitated, you may be able to go to the social security office and get representative payee for her Social Security check and set that up into a different account where you can transfer funds as needed. SS office does not depend on your POA alone, you have to get the rep payee. Guardianship is an option if those sorts of things do not get things under control.

If you have zero cooperation but she is not deemed incapacitated, you have to get sneaky. You can report her debit card lost or stolen as long as you could intercept a new one that they would mail her. I just started doing my mom's bill paying, at first with her "supervision" then just by reassuring her we had taken care of it for the month already, and collected my mom's QVC and another shopping card at one point, and she never said anything about them to me. (She was too proud to admit she'd lost anything - yes, I took advantage!) I felt bad but otherwise she would fall for charity scams, and would buy endless supplies of Wendell Forge pewter trinkets plus chocolates that were "gifts" that she'd, um, forget to give away - it was better for her diabetes for me to buy her sugarfree and keep her candy dish full.

Keep good records, and do everything with as much respect and love as you can, but set limits and recognize what she can and can't realistically manage any more. It is not easy, emotionally or practically, and there is not one right way to do it that will work for every situation; it may not hurt to have a financial advisor or estate planner help you navigate it all.

My mom died a couple of weeks ago. The attorney said she has no estate. My name is on her checking account and I want to use the money to pay outstanding bills. Is this allowed ? She does have a credit card and a home equity in her name only. Thank you

Auntiem, did she have a Will naming you Executor? That is the person who settles the bills. So you take the Will and the death certificate to the bank.
I find it odd that "she has no estate" but she has a house with a loan on it. That does not make sense. The home equity loan is now due in full when the borrower dies. The Executor has to sit down with the lender and discuss a "short sale" of the property.

Thanks for responding. As soon as soon as my mom died - the house automatically belongs to myself and 3 siblings. This was due to a lady bird or quit claim deed signed by my parents a few years ago. Apparently in Michigan , the house is not part of her estate therefore she doesn't have one. I am the executor of her will. The only "assets" she has was about $ 600 in a savings account that is also in my name. My intention was to use that to pay utilities until we sell the house. Once it sells, the first thing to be paid is the mortgage. The home equity is not connected according to her mortgage company. From what you're saying it sounds like the credit union would say otherwise.