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Hello, I have a question on Joint bank accounts and taxes. so here is the background: My Dad passed away 2 years ago and my mother has Lewy body dementia. when he died I took over all of the financials and my mother moved into an assisted living home. Now when my dad died we received a life insurance check for $180,000 that I put into my mothers name and into an investment account. My mom is now telling me she would like me to have a percentage of this money. If I were to use 50k to pay off my home from our joint checking account does some IRS guy come knocking at my door...?

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A parent is allowed to give a gift to a child of $14k each year without it requiring a gift tax. Thus, a gift of money of $50k would be red flagged and gift tax would need to be paid.

Depending on your Mom's age and her health, we also need to think ahead if a parent might need to apply for Medicaid to help pay the nursing home, etc. Then, any gift would be looked at going back 5 years, even the $14k. None of us have crystal balls so it hard to know what to plan for in the future.
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From a tax standpoint, you would be better off to be named beneficiary on the account. Be patient, wait and avoid the huge gift tax. If you are POA, remember that no POA may transfer assets to themselves.
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