Under the UPC, what can creditors reach if the decedent has a joint account?

Under the Uniform Probate Code (UPC), joint accounts are a specific type of property that can complicate creditor claims against a decedent's estate. When a decedent has a joint account, creditors can typically only reach the portion of the funds that were deposited by the decedent.

This means that if the joint account was held with another party, the funds contributed by the joint account holder are not reachable by the creditors of the decedent. This principle rests on the notion that the survivor of the joint account would retain their portion of the funds since they contributed to the account independently. Therefore, only the money that originally belonged to the decedent can be reached for settling debts.

This understanding is pivotal in estate planning and probate law, as it delineates the boundaries of what can be subjected to creditor claims after someone passes away, particularly in the context of joint holdings.