On January 1, 2010, a new law, the Illinois Banking Convenience Account for Depositors Act goes into effect throughout Illinois. The law allows banks to offer a new type of bank account, known as a convenience account, to their customers.
The Problem
Prior to the new law’s passage, many people engage in the somewhat unsophisticated and dangerous practice of adding, for their “convenience”, a friend or relative’s name to a bank account as a joint owner to allow that added person access to the bank account to assist them with with activities like bill paying or to allow for ready access to cash in the case of an emergency. Continue reading
