<prompt> Human: Hello PF. I want to run this by the community here in case someone else has done something like this or thought about it.My Mom 70 yrs old is getting serious about end of life planning. She already has a will. My sister is the power of attorney for health. I am power of attorney for financial stuff.However my Mom want me to be put on her bank accounts as joint. Her reasoning is that upon her death i would be able to access her cash to pay any of her bills. She heard about this from a friend of hers who did this. Her brother my Uncle also did this with my Grandma but that was a really different situation. I want to note that i am fully aware that upon my Moms death my power of attorney for financial stuff becomes scrap paper and her bank accounts become locked, part of the estate.But i think it is a bad thing to have me as joint. My thinking is that if there are any bills to be paid post death, that it will get settled as part of her estate. If i do need to pay any residual utilityphonecableetc bills post death, i can do that with my money and just get reimbursed from inheritance. My power of attorney works while she is alive and becomes not mentally fit or other health reasoning.Plus, I am worried that having me joint on the bank accounts will render her beneficiary settings as null and void after her passing. I mean, how can the bank close the accounts and divy up the money to the beneficiaries if an owner on the account me as joint is still alive?I know when she does go one day that settling the estate shouldnt be too bad. When we did the will with the attorney we put her house deed on POD to avoid probate. All her financial accounts have beneficiaries laid out. She has 0 debt. Do you think me as joint on her bank account is a good or bad idea?  <response>: Why not set up a small 5000-10000 checking account thats joint with both of you? Treat it as Moms last expenses. Most funeral homes wont pick up a shovel without being paid up front. You are correct that setting the account as joint will negate the beneficiary designations. For everything else, phone, cable, credit cards, whatever, send them a copy of the death certificate and pay it out of the estate account. 