Joint Tenancy – Must have at least two (2) owners (No Probate if owner passes away)

Joint tenancy is like co-ownership with two or more people, often husband and wife, with equal individual interests. This type of ownership has a right of survivorship. An advantage of joint tenancy is avoiding the costly court process of probate.  When one owner dies, the decedent’s interest passes to the surviving joint tenant, with very little cost to transfer.

Example: Marlene and Joe (husband and wife) [or Marlene and Sandy (mother and daughter)]

hold title in joint tenancy (aka joint tenants).  When one of the two joint tenants die, then the surviving joint tenant receives the deceased’s interest in the property.

BEWARE:  When the surviving joint tenant dies, the property will go through probate because the property was held by an individual and not by a trust at the time of death of the surviving joint tenant.

 SOLUTION:  If you transfer your interest into your trust, then when you pass away, your property WILL AVOID PROBATE! 

If you currently hold title as joint tenants and you want to protect your property from probate, call us today to transfer your interest into your trust.  We can also help you set up a trust if you don’t already have one.

Read More on other ways to hold title…

Continue to Part 1 – SOLE OWNERSHIP
Continue to Part 2 – JOINT TENANCY
Continue to Part 3 – COMMUNITY PROPERTY WITH RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP
Continue to Part 4 – COMMUNITY PROPERTY
Continue to Part 5 – TENANTS IN COMMON
Continue to Part 6 – LIVING TRUST

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WANT TO AVOID PROBATE?

Probate is a special court that supervises and determines how a deceased person’s estate is to be distributed. The probate procedure may take years to complete. Probate can become an expensive and time consuming process that can be avoided by creating a Living Trust or adding a Joint Tenant. Ultimately, however, the best solution to avoid probate is to vest your real property in your Living Trust.