It is very important that your Wills govern the distribution of your assets upon your deaths. If your Wills establish trusts for the surviving spouse or other family members, only assets that pass under your Wills will pass to those trusts. Likewise, if your Wills include tax planning, only assets that pass under your Wills will be available for tax planning purposes. Survivorship Accounts pass completely outside your Wills at death. By referring to "survivorship accounts," we mean joint accounts that are titled to include a "right of survivorship" (these accounts are sometimes abbreviated "JTWROS," "Joint with ROS," or "JT TEN"). The right of survivorship designation may appear only in the original signature card or account agreement that established the account [in the "fine print'] and not in the account statements. Therefore, your survivorship accounts [except for a modest-sized checking account] should be retitled as non-survivorship accounts. Otherwise, the trust, tax planning and other benefits of your Wills may be impaired or even lost. In addition, Pay on Death ("POD") and Transfer on Death ("TOD") designations result in the funds or assets in an account with that designation being distributed outside your Wills. Therefore, again, if you want those assets and accounts to be distributed according to your estate plan in your Wills, do not use POD and TOD designations on your accounts.