Hello fellow Fools...

As a simple and temporary will, since I have no dependents, I'm considering adding a family member (my father) to my brokerage account as a joint tenant with rights of survivorship. By being the first tenant, I would still pay the taxes, but if I were to meet some untimely fate I wouldn't have to worry about dying intestate. My concern is that, since the value of the account is over $10k, the IRS will consider this to be a taxable gift. Can someone give me the lowdown on this situation? Are there distinctly better ways to do this, aside from a normal will? Thanks in advance for any help.

Drew

ps Any lawyers out there who can tell me how this would affect our respective exposures to litigation? We are both American citizens (thus the need for concern).