Opening a Joint Tenants WROS Account at Charles Schwab
If you're interested in opening a brokerage account that allows multiple owners, including yourself and at least one other person, you may consider opening a Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship (WROS) account. Charles Schwab offers this account type, which comes with a range of excellent features, just like other accounts offered by Charles Schwab.
Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship
The Joint Tenants WROS account is designed for two or more individuals who want to jointly own a brokerage account. All owners have equal rights to the account. In the event of one account owner's death, that owner's share passes directly to the surviving owner or owners rather than to the deceased owner's estate.
Louisiana recognizes Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship registrations for securities.
At Charles Schwab, the Joint Tenants WROS account follows the same pricing structure as other standard brokerage accounts. This means there are no setup fees, annual maintenance fees, inactivity fees, or minimum balance requirements.
A Joint Tenants WROS account allows trading in a wide range of investment vehicles, including stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds, and options. Eligible joint brokerage accounts can also apply for futures and forex trading.
To open a joint account,
you can conveniently use an online form. However, if the account will have three or more owners, a paper application must be used instead of the broker's electronic form.
Other Joint Accounts at Charles Schwab
If the Joint Tenants WROS account does not meet your needs, Charles Schwab offers several other options for joint accounts.
For instance, you can opt for a Joint Tenants in Common account, where each owner holds a specific percentage of the assets. The distribution does not have to be equal; it can be customized based on ownership percentages. This type of account allows for three or more owners, each with their designated share of the account's assets.
In a Joint Tenants in Common account, when one owner passes away, their share transfers to their estate rather than to the other account holders. This distinguishes it from the WROS account.
Non-U.S. residents can open Schwab One International accounts as Tenants in Common, subject to Schwab's international account eligibility requirements.
Another joint account available at Charles Schwab is the Joint Community Property account, which is available to married couples in eligible community property states. In this account, each spouse has a one-half interest in the assets. When one spouse passes away, the deceased spouse's share goes to their estate. Schwab also offers Community Property with Rights of Survivorship in eligible states, under which the deceased spouse's share passes to the surviving spouse.
Charles Schwab also offers Tenants by the Entirety accounts for married couples in selected states where this form of account ownership is available.
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Written by Alex Bost
Updated on 8/31/2026.
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