Owners

• A joint account is typically opened by a married couple, or two people maintaining the same household together. A joint account always has two or more owners. Although only one checkbook is maintained, all owners are allowed to acquire a debit card for the account if they choose.
  
  

Deposits

• In a joint checking account, all owners are entitled to all money deposited into the account. The bank considers all deposits equally owned and any account holder has access to the funds at any given time. The bank has no way of differentiating the money by owner. In a joint account, there is no separation of money; all owners own the deposits equally.
  
  

Liability

• All owners of a joint checking account are equally liable for any debits made to the account. This includes check, debit card transactions, electronic funds transactions, and any other transaction causing money to leave the account. The bank is not responsible for joint checking account holders' irresponsible bookkeeping skills. If a joint checking account is overdrawn, the bank has right to take money out of one of the owner's other accounts. For example, if a joint account is $200 overdrawn and one of the owners of this account has another account with that bank, the bank is entitled to take money from the other account and place it in the overdrawn account.
  
  

Survivorship Rights

• If a joint account is owned by two people and one dies, the entire account passes directly to the surviving owner. If the account is held by more than two people, the account passes to all surviving owners.
  
  

Authorized Signatures

• All owners of a joint checking account are required to sign a signature card upon opening the account. All checks or other banking business relating to this account must contain an authorized signature.