Another Benefit of Marriage: How Fidelity, Vanguard, J.P. Morgan, Schwab, and other brokerage accounts fit with revocable living trusts and a holistic Florida estate plan
Key Takeaways
- Florida tenancy by the entirety can protect qualifying jointly owned property from a separate creditor of only one spouse, but not from joint creditors.
- A brokerage account labeled JTWROS is not necessarily a TBE account. Express TBE registration creates cleaner evidence of the intended ownership.
- Florida Statutes section 655.79 supplies a favorable rule for qualifying spousal joint deposit accounts. Ordinary brokerage accounts require a different analysis grounded in Florida common law and the actual account documents.
- TBE is available to any couple validly married under Florida law; it does not depend on the composition of the marriage.
- A revocable trust, revocable living trust and living trust are different names for the same general planning tool. Signing one does not automatically fund it or retitle an account.
- Estate planning, trust funding, beneficiary designations, account titling, insurance and asset protection should be coordinated rather than handled as isolated projects.
Florida’s Asset-Protection Framework
Florida provides married couples with some unusually powerful asset-protection tools. One of the most useful, and frequently overlooked, is tenancy by the entirety, commonly abbreviated TBE.
Rooted in the English common law concept of a married couple as one legal unit, TBE treats each spouse as owning the whole property rather than a separate share of the property, which is why a creditor of only one spouse generally cannot seize it.
In plain terms, TBE is not conventional 50/50 ownership. It is not the same as “tenants in common” or “joint tenants with rights of survivorship.” In TBE ownership, neither spouse owns a distinct half that can be separated and taken by that spouse’s individual creditor. The spouses own the property together as an indivisible marital unit, and only a creditor of both spouses may reach it.
Traditional English common law treated spouses as one legal person because married women could not own property independently of their husbands. Modern Florida law has long rejected that sexist premise but nevertheless has retained TBE as a unique form of marital ownership. The Florida Supreme Court explains this history, the modern ownership theory, and the six traditional unities required by common law TBE in Beal Bank v. Almand & Associates. The Court recently clarified the application of those principles to bank accounts in Loumpos v. Bank One, holding that the statutory presumption established by Fla. Stat. § 655.79 is not defeated merely because the common-law unities of time and title are absent. In effect, Florida’s statutory inclusion of bank accounts makes TBE ownership more broadly available in Florida than it was under common law.
As married women gained independent property rights during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many jurisdictions abolished tenancy by the entirety, some limited it to real estate, and only a few retained it more broadly. Florida is among a relatively small group of US states, together with the District of Columbia, in which tenancy by the entirety extends beyond real estate to personal property, potentially including properly titled bank, brokerage, and other financial accounts. The creation requirements and creditor protections vary significantly by state, and my analysis is limited to Florida.
TBE does not operate in isolation. It complements the substantial asset-protection tools available to all Florida residents: a qualifying homestead; many tax-qualified retirement accounts; qualifying annuity proceeds and the cash surrender value of life-insurance policies; qualifying head-of-family wages; and certain education and health savings accounts. Each protection has its own eligibility rules, exceptions and limits.
If you’d like to read up on the statutory starting points, see Fla. Stat. § 222.21 (retirement and tax-exempt accounts), § 222.14 (annuity proceeds and life-insurance cash surrender value), § 222.11 (earnings of a head of family) and § 222.22 (qualifying education and health savings accounts). Florida homestead protection arises from the Florida Constitution and related statutes and is analyzed in my article on Florida Homestead as Asset Protection: What the O.J. Simpson Case Actually Teaches (needs link).
Ordinary taxable brokerage assets generally do not enjoy the independent statutory protection afforded to a qualifying homestead, qualified retirement account or qualifying annuity. For married Florida residents, properly structured TBE ownership can therefore add an important layer of protection for investments that might otherwise be exposed to a separate creditor of one spouse.
Can Same-Sex Married Couples Own TBE Property in Florida?
Yes. Lawfully married same-sex couples can own TBE property in Florida on the same terms as opposite-sex spouses. Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015), requires every state to license marriages between two people of the same sex and to recognize lawful same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Pavan v. Smith, 582 U.S. 563 (2017), subsequently confirmed that states must provide same-sex spouses with the same legal benefits they attach to marriage. Florida entireties law turns on the existence of a lawful marriage, not the spouses’ sexes.
Same-sex spouses sometimes wonder whether a property rule historically described in terms of “husband and wife” applies to them. It does. The account-titling analysis in this guide, and the coordination between titling and a joint estate plan, applies equally to every marriage Florida recognizes. For related planning considerations, see Verras Law’s LGBTQ estate-planning resource. Indeed, the Supreme Court’s decisions in Obergefell (widower’s Social Security benefits) and the landmark case preceding it, United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S. 744 (2013) (federal estate-tax marital deduction), arose from preferential financial treatment granted to opposite-sex spouses that were denied to same-sex spouses.
Notably, while many states have reversed their laws that discriminate against same-sex marriages, Florida has not. The text of Article I, section 27 of the Florida Constitution continues to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. However, that provision is unenforceable under Obergefell because it violates the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. Under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, the federal Constitution controls over conflicting provisions of state constitutions.
My Firsthand Experience With Fidelity, Vanguard and J.P. Morgan
Recently, my spouse and I reviewed the titling of our own taxable brokerage accounts to make sure that accounts we intended to own jointly were actually registered as tenants by the entirety, rather than merely as ordinary joint accounts or joint tenants with right of survivorship (JTWROS).
I am a Florida estate planning attorney, and account titling, trust funding and asset protection are subjects I routinely address for clients. I nevertheless found the practical process surprisingly inconsistent from one brokerage firm to another.
Fidelity: A Quick Online Conversion Request, Still Processing
My spouse and I already had a Fidelity taxable brokerage account registered as JTWROS. In August 2026, Fidelity allowed us to submit an online request to convert the existing registration to TBE, keeping our existing account number and without requiring transfers of assets into a new account. Fidelity required a copy of our marriage license and documentation concerning my spouse’s legal residence in the United States. It has been one week since we completed the online submission, and we have heard nothing yet.
Vanguard: A New Paper Application, Submitted by “Snail Mail”
None of the two Vanguard reps I spoke with understood what I meant by “tenants by the entirety” or “TBE” until I escalated to supervisor, who recognized the requested TBE ownership. She advised the Vanguard’s ordinary online workflow could not be used to open a TBE account. Vanguard required us to complete a paper application for an entirely new joint brokerage account which expressly requested by registered “Tenants by Entirety with Right of Survivorship – TEN ENT WROS” (there was no such option, so I wrote it in on the application). The initial application did mention our marriage license or separate proof of my spouse’s legal residence, but we included them based our Fidelity experience. The package can only be submitted in paper form. We are presently awaiting processing. Once the new TBE account is established, we will transfer our non-IRA Vanguard investments into the new account. We will have to change our automatic purchases and transfers once we have the new account up-and-running.
J.P. Morgan: The Next Practical Test, Actual Contact With A Human Person
My spouse and I also have a JTWROS J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing account. J.P. Morgan’s published educational material recognizes TBE as a form of brokerage ownership, but I have not yet completed or confirmed the conversion procedure for Self-Directed Investing. My research and my phone calls to J.P. Morgan Chase suggest that establishing the registration requires a Chase branch visit. I will update this page after I complete the process.
What TBE Means Under Florida Law
Tenancy by the entirety is a form of ownership available only to married couples. Florida law traditionally describes six unities: possession, interest, title, time, survivorship and marriage. The spouses hold the property as a single legal unit rather than as two freely divisible half interests.
In Beal Bank, SSB v. Almand & Associates, 780 So. 2d 45 (Fla. 2001), the Florida Supreme Court explained the TBE framework for spousal bank accounts, including the presumption that may arise when the required unities exist. It also emphasized the importance of the account documents when an institution offers different ownership choices.
Florida courts have extended entireties principles beyond deposit accounts. In Cacciatore v. Fisherman’s Wharf Realty Ltd. Partnership, 821 So. 2d 1251 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002), the court applied the TBE presumption to stock jointly owned by spouses. That makes the form of ownership relevant to brokerage accounts holding securities. However, this is one opinion, and I prefer the cautious approach: Make your joint brokerage accounts expressly titled as TBE.
The Critical Distinction: Bank Accounts Under § 655.79 Versus Brokerage Accounts
Florida’s bank-account statute provides that a deposit or account made in the names of two people who are husband and wife is considered a tenancy by the entirety unless otherwise specified in writing. See Fla. Stat. § 655.79.
In Loumpos v. Bank One, No. SC2024-1256 (Fla. Dec. 11, 2025), the Florida Supreme Court held that section 655.79 authorizes a joint spousal bank account to be held as TBE even when one spouse originally opened the account. The statute displaced the common-law time-and-title obstacle for the bank account at issue. In other words, the statute, as interpreted by the Court, extends TBE further than common law TBE would reach.
That statutory shortcut should not be assumed to govern an ordinary brokerage account holding stocks, mutual funds or ETFs. Section 655.79 sits in Florida’s financial-institutions code and speaks in terms of deposits and accounts. Brokerage TBE protection should instead be documented through the firm’s registration and evaluated under the common-law principles applicable to personal property.
Practical rule: If TBE protection is the objective, obtain an account registration that expressly says “tenants by the entirety” or the firm’s unmistakable equivalent. Do not rely only on the word “joint.”
JTWROS and TBE Are Not Interchangeable
Both JTWROS and TBE ordinarily include survivorship. But survivorship answers what happens at death; it does not make the two ownership forms identical during life. A creditor may be able to reach a debtor’s divisible interest in an ordinary joint tenancy. In qualifying TBE property, one spouse ordinarily has no separate interest that the separate creditor of that spouse can seize.
If an application offers TBE and the spouses affirmatively choose JTWROS or tenants in common, that choice may become evidence that they did not intend TBE ownership. The cleanest record includes the application or change form, the governing agreement, written correspondence and statements that consistently show the TBE registration.
How Major Brokerage Firms Address TBE
The following summary is current as of August 29, 2026. It reflects linked public materials, the author’s firsthand experience where stated, and research published by the Florida asset-protection attorneys at Alper Law. Procedures can change without warning, and “the firm recognizes TBE” does not necessarily mean TBE appears in the ordinary online workflow.
| Firm | Status | Practical observation |
|---|---|---|
| Fidelity | Yes | Online conversion request was available for an existing JTWROS account in the author’s August 2026 experience; marriage and residency documentation was requested. |
| Vanguard | Yes | A new paper application was required; the requested registration was “TEN ENT WROS.” |
| Charles Schwab | Yes | Public application materials have expressly offered tenants-by-the-entirety registration where state law permits. |
| Merrill Edge / Merrill Lynch | Yes | Uses “ATBE” or “As Tenants by Entirety” in account documentation. |
| Morgan Stanley | Yes | Brokerage documentation recognizes tenancy-by-the-entirety accounts for eligible married residents. |
| E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley | Request specifically | Governing materials recognize TBE, but couples should not assume the ordinary “joint” workflow selects it. |
| J.P. Morgan / Chase | Confirm procedure | J.P. Morgan recognizes TBE brokerage ownership; the author has not yet completed the Self-Directed Investing conversion. |
| Wells Fargo Advisors / WellsTrade | Request specifically | Documents recognize TBE; practical registration mechanics may require assistance from your financial advisor. |
For additional firm-by-firm research, see Alper Law’s TBE brokerage-account survey and its practical guide on how to open a TBE account. Those resources are useful starting points, but the brokerage should confirm its current procedure and exact account registration in writing.
What About Schwab, Merrill, Robinhood, and the Rest?
Additional firms reported to recognize TBE in some form include Interactive Brokers, UBS, Edward Jones and LPL Financial. Public materials for Ameriprise and Raymond James have been less transparent. Robinhood’s joint offering has been described as JTWROS rather than TBE; Coinbase does not ordinarily provide joint ownership; and any possible Webull/Apex arrangement should be confirmed in writing. These observations are operational, not guarantees of current availability.
Opening and Retitling the Account Correctly
- Ask for the precise ownership designation, not merely a “joint account.”
- When possible, have both spouses acquire their interests together through the same registration and instrument.
- If converting an existing individual account creates uncertainty, consider whether a new TBE account and an in-kind transfer provide a cleaner record.
- Keep the application, change-of-registration form, marriage documentation, correspondence, governing agreement and statements.
- Confirm that no third owner or arrangement defeats a required unity.
- Recheck the registration after any merger, platform migration, account transfer or change in marital status.
How TBE Fits With a Revocable Living Trust
A revocable trust is also commonly called a revocable living trust or simply a living trust. These terms generally describe the same planning tool: a trust that the settlor can amend or revoke during life. A revocable trust can coordinate incapacity planning, probate avoidance and disposition at death, but it is not an asset protection trust for its creator.
Florida Statutes section 736.0505(1)(a) provides that property of a revocable trust is subject to the settlor’s creditors during life “to the extent the property would not otherwise be exempt by law if owned directly by the settlor.” See Fla. Stat. § 736.0505. The Florida Bar likewise cautions that revocable-trust assets generally remain subject to the settlor’s creditors. See The Revocable Trust in Florida.
I generally draft joint revocable living trusts for married couples with provisions intended to maximize the available TBE protection of qualifying assets transferred into the trust. One Florida Bar Journal analysis recommends several features intended to support continued TBE treatment: an express statement of the spouses’ intent; joint control over amendment, revocation and termination as to the affected property; and careful treatment of the first spouse’s separate estate obligations. Those are protective drafting measures, not a guarantee. Florida appellate law has not conclusively established that transferring directly titled TBE brokerage assets into a joint revocable trust preserves their creditor protection in every case.
That wording is deliberate. Florida law concerning preservation of TBE treatment inside a joint revocable trust is not completely settled, and results may depend on the trust language, the asset, the source of the property and the governing facts.
The Florida Bar has discussed the competing considerations and authorities in “Trusts: TBE or Not TBE”. Sometimes direct TBE ownership provides the cleaner creditor-protection position. Sometimes trust ownership is appropriate for broader estate-planning reasons. The correct answer is to coordinate the choices with your estate planning lawyer, not to treat “fund the trust” as a universal instruction.
Signing the Trust Is Not the Same as Funding It
A signed trust does not retitle a Fidelity, Vanguard or J.P. Morgan account. Implementation usually requires separate action with each institution. That may mean opening a new account, changing the registration, transferring assets in kind, updating beneficiary designations, or leaving a particular asset outside the trust for a specific reason.
When I prepare estate plans, I help clients with implementation, including the appropriate retitling of financial accounts and funding of their trusts. For married couples, that work includes considering whether a proposed transfer may preserve, improve or inadvertently sacrifice an available TBE position.
What TBE Does Not Protect You From
- TBE protects against a separate creditor of one spouse, not a creditor holding an enforceable claim against both spouses. For this reason, I always advise married couples to “own the car you drive in your name only, and only drive the car you own.” Under Florida law, both the negligent driver and the owner of a motor vehicle may be liable to someone injured by the vehicle. If a husband causes an accident while driving his wife’s car, or while driving a car titled to both spouses jointly, the injured person may have a claim against both spouses. If both spouses are liable, their TBE property is no longer protected from that claim.
- Federal claims and federal bankruptcy issues may produce different results.
- Divorce ends the marital unity and therefore ends TBE ownership. In a Florida divorce, real and personal property titled as TBE is presumed to be marital property, even if one spouse originally owned the property or supplied all of the funds used to acquire it. Retitling separate property as TBE can therefore create a presumption that the property was gifted to the marriage. A valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement may provide otherwise and protect against that eventuality. When a divorce becomes final, former TBE property that remains jointly owned is held as a tenancy in common and loses its TBE creditor protection.
- Transfers/retitling made after a claim arises or when a substantial claim is reasonably foreseeable may be challenged and set aside under Florida’s fraudulent transfers statute. Asset protection planning must be prospective and completed before liability is on the horizon. If you have already been sued, threatened with suit, or become aware of a substantial potential claim, any retitling of your assets to place them beyond a creditor’s reach can be undone by a court.
- The account must satisfy the applicable legal requirements, and the records should consistently support the claimed ownership.
- TBE is one planning tool. It is not a substitute for adequate insurance, entity planning, tax advice or a complete estate plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does marriage automatically turn a JTWROS brokerage account into TBE?
No. Marriage alone should not be treated as rewriting an express brokerage registration. If the firm offers TBE, select it expressly and retain proof that you and your spouse did so.
Does § 655.79 protect brokerage accounts?
Do not assume so. The statute provides a special rule for qualifying deposits and accounts within Florida’s banking framework. Brokerage securities should be analyzed under the account documents and Florida common law governing personal property.
Can a creditor of one spouse reach a TBE brokerage account?
Properly created TBE property is generally protected from a separate creditor of only one spouse under Florida law. Joint creditors and certain federal claims may overcome TBE protection.
Can either spouse trade or withdraw from a TBE account?
Brokerage agreements commonly authorize account activity by either owner, but the firm’s agreement and the spouses’ conduct matter. Review the actual contract rather than assuming.
Can I add my spouse to an individual brokerage account?
Yes, but simply adding a spouse may create questions about the required unities for non-bank personal property. A new TBE account and transfer of assets to it will provide a cleaner record. Consult an attorney before you act.
Does TBE avoid probate?
TBE includes survivorship, so the surviving spouse ordinarily succeeds to the property outside probate. That does not resolve what happens after the survivor’s later death or during their incapacity. To avoid probate, you should either hold your TBE assets in a properly structured joint trust with your spouse or beneficiary-designated after the deaths of both spouses. Please note that, based on my personal experience, Vanguard does not presently allow beneficiary designations on its TBE accounts. Consequently, once we get our TBE account set up and funded, my spouse and I plan to move it to our joint revocable trust, which contains provisions preserving TBE protection for TBE assets conveyed to the trust.
Should a TBE brokerage account be transferred to our joint revocable living trust?
Not automatically. Trust ownership may advance probate and incapacity goals, while direct TBE ownership may present a clearer asset-protection position. When appropriate, I design joint trusts for married couple to extend all available TBE protection to qualifying TBE property conveyed to the trust. The trust language, the funding of the trust, and the complete plan must be implemented together.
Does a revocable living trust protect my assets from my creditors?
No. During the grantor’s life, property in a revocable trust is ordinarily subject to the grantor’s creditors to the extent it would not otherwise be exempt. An asset protection must flow from another source. Certain irrevocable trusts may offer asset protection, but given the more flexible asset protections available under Florida law, they are generally too cumbersome for most of my Florida clients.
What documents should I keep?
Keep the signed application or conversion form, confirmations, correspondence, governing agreement, marriage evidence requested by the firm and statements showing the TBE registration.
What happens if both spouses owe the debt?
TBE does not protect property from a valid joint creditor of both spouses.
Can TBE be created after a lawsuit or creditor problem arises?
Asset protection should be done before you need it. Retitling that happens after a claim arises or when a substantial claim is reasonably foreseeable may be challenged and set aside under Florida’s fraudulent-transfers law. To be fully effective, asset-protection planning, including titling assets as TBE, should be completed before liability is on the horizon. If you have already been sued, threatened with suit, or become aware of a substantial potential claim, retitling your assets to place them beyond a creditor’s reach can be undone.
Which brokerage is best for TBE?
There is no universal answer. Choosing a financial institution and advisor is an important personal decision that depends on many variables beyond the scope of asset protection and estate planning. Choose your brokerage or advisor first, then confirm the current TBE registration process directly with your firm or advisor.
Titling Isn’t a Footnote to the Plan – It Is Part of the Plan
A good estate plan determines what happens to property in the future. A well-implemented estate plan also pays attention to how that property is owned and protected today.
For new and existing clients, Verras Law can review revocable living trusts and wills, trust funding, brokerage and bank-account titling, tenancy-by-the-entirety ownership, beneficiary designations, Florida homestead and other exemptions, business and insurance considerations, and the relationship between the legal documents and the client’s actual assets.
For a first-person account of this process as it played out for me personally with my self-directed accounts at Fidelity, Vanguard and J.P. Morgan, see “Lawyer, Plan Thyself” on the Verras Law blog.
To discuss a coordinated Florida estate plan and asset-protection strategy, contact Verras Law, P.A. to schedule a consultation.