There’s a warning today from a local credit union about understanding your rights with joint accounts. This is on the heals of a story in Stayton, Oregon, where an 84-year-old woman is concerned about losing her home and paying her bills. In this case, the credit union emptied her entire savings account because her son owed them money for his home loan. To help her manage her finances, Doris Miley added her son to her savings account. Kyle Frick with Mid Oregon Credit Union in Bend says people can also run into problems with joint accounts when there's a divorce or other hostile split between people: “We see this on a fairly regular basis, where someone who has a joint account and its not an amicable split; and somebody comes in and withdraws the money. And people come in and say how come you let take the money out of the account? But we really don't control that.". Frick explains that the banking industry is highly regulated and they can't police joint accounts so its up to you to make sure you're not pooling your money with someone who might take it , or who owes the bank or credit union money.