united-states liability
Liability of joint bank account owner (U.S.)
<p>Say that persons A and B have a joint bank account, with A as the primary owner, and assume that A gets sued. I understand of course that all funds in the account are exposed in the suit even if B had nothing to do with the law suit. My question is whether other assets of B are at risk by virtue of B’s financial association with A in this account.</p>

<h2>No</h2>
<p>Merely having a joint bank account with soemoen does not make one person responsible for the other person's debts or obligations.</p>
<p>However, a financial association of the kind which leads to a joint account <strong>may</strong> also involve liability for some of the othet person's obligations. For instance, a very common reason for having a joint account is when two people are married. Being married often involves mutual financial obligations, but not because of the joint account. Another reason for having a joint account is if the people involved are in a partnership. Partners are all liable for partnership obligations, but are usually not liable for the obligation of another partner that are not part of the partnership business.</p>
<p>In short it depends on <strong>why</strong> the joint account exits. merely having such an account will not make one liable, but what ever relationship caused two people to have a joint account <strong>might</strong> also involve shares liabilities, but not just because of the joint account.</p>
