We have a husband and wife with a joint account. Their son is also a joint owner on the account. They are requesting that the son's name not be reflected in the account title because they don't want it to show up on the statement. Is it okay to have his name on the signature card listed as joint owner but leave his name off the account title on the computer? His name will still be related to the account on the system it just won't show in the title. I can't find anything in state law that addresses this.

The only thing that comes to my mind right away is FDIC insurance. The titling of the accounts need to exactly match from the signature card to the system to qualify for the insurance. If it doesn't then they will set it aside and possibly deal with it after all of the exact match accounts are taken care of. Otherwise, I don't know of any law that addresses the omission of a joint owner name on the computer system. How are your front line people going to know that he is able to transact in the account if they only use the computer? That may cause a headache, I know it would here.

The other problem could be a legal process against the son. If a levy, etc., is received, you have to know what accounts might be hit.

It might depend on your system. Some systems allow you set up alternate information for mailing, this doesn't change the ownership of the account.

What rights would one joint owner have to remove another joint owner from an account title? Technically, all the owners have equal rights to the account. I would politely decline the request. I would probably also make sure that they understand a few points: 1) if the son comes in today and requests a full withdrawal, we will accommodate the request if he has proper ID; and 2) if we receive a tax levy, garnishment, etc. in his name, the account will be debited to fund the request. They may, in reality, be more comfortable with a POD or convenience signer account.

One owner on a joint account typically does not have the right to remove the other owner from the account. They do however, have the right to close the account and reopen a new one, which would effectively remove the name.

And the beauty of handling things that way is you have a clear, concise, audit trail. Adding and deleting names on accounts is often sloppily documented, and best avoided.

It isn't that the parents want to remove the son's name. They don't want his name in the title because it will show up on the statement and their other children don't know that he is on the account.

If the bank has a way to mask an account name from appearing on the account's mailing address, this seems to be a reasonable request that should be accommodated.

But the bank, as stated several times above, needs to keep the son's name on their records as an account joint owner in order to reflect true ownership.