Joint Community Property and Joint Tenants by the Entirety Accounts at TD Ameritrade
Married couples who want to invest together can open one of several joint accounts. Two very popular choices are the Joint Community Property account and the Joint Tenants by the Entirety account. Both of these are available at TD Ameritrade.
Overview of the Joint Community Property Account
The Joint Community Property account is designed for married couples in community property states. These are Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington State, and
Wisconsin.
Assets in this type of account are owned jointly by both spouses. Each spouse owns 50% of the account’s assets. When one spouse dies, or in the event of a divorce, each spouse (or his/her estate) gets 50% of the assets. It’s possible for a Last Will and Testament to divide things up differently.
Nonresident aliens cannot open this type of joint account.
Overview of the Joint Tenants by the Entirety Account
A second account type is available at TD Ameritrade for married couples. This one is called the Joint Tenants by the Entirety account. As the title suggests, when one spouse dies, the other spouse gets the entire account. This is a different arrangement than the community property account where 50% of the assets go to the deceased’s estate.
The Joint Tenants by the Entirety account is available only in certain states. And in all cases, nonresident aliens can’t open one.
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Opening an Account
Opening a Joint Tenants by the Entirety account or a Joint Community Property account is a pretty
straightforward process at TD Ameritrade. Just direct your browser to the broker’s easy-to-use
online form to
submit your information quickly. If the information you supply isn’t compatible with the account type you have
selected, the online system will notify you.
Features of Joint Accounts at TD Ameritrade
Joint accounts for married couples and business partners alike come with the same features that individual accounts have. Trades are now free—yes, this generous and almost unbelievable pricing is available for joint accounts.
And what assets are the $0 price tag good for? Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETF’s, closed-end funds, and options. This last category does have per-contract charges, though.
Futures and forex can be traded inside a joint account, although commissions are assessed.
Joint accounts at TD Ameritrade have no fees, another fabulous feature.
Additional Joint Accounts at TD Ameritrade
The 2 accounts discussed in this article are only available to married couples. TD Ameritrade offers other
joint accounts that both married couples and business partners can open. For example, the brokerage house
offers the
Joint Tenants in Common account. With this setup, there can be 2 or more account owners; and each owner can have a disproportionate share of the assets. For example, ownership can be specified as 50%, 30%, and 20% for 3 owners.
The Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship account, also available to TD Ameritrade customers, doesn’t offer fractional ownership. Instead, each account holder is deemed to own 100% of an account’s assets.
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