Why Joint Tenancy with Survivorship Is Important

Last week, I was unfortunately reminded of a legal term in real estate and why it is so important. That term is Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorshp. Since this is a legal matter, I asked a local attorny to contribute to this weeks article. Below is the information that David Lawler of The Law Offices of David Lawler, LLC was kind enough to share:

For homeowners sharing property ownership with another person, it is critical to know precisely HOW that ownership is held. Why?  Most people assume that if they own property together and one of them passes away, the deceased person’s ownership interest automatically passes to the survivor. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. In order for ownership to pass automatically, the ownership must be held as Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship (JTWROS).  

Most people did not read the deed at their closing. Even if they did, they most likely didn’t know to look to see if title was being conveyed as JTWROS. If that vital language is not contained on the deed itself, ownership defaults to Tenancy in Common (TIC). The problem with TIC is that when one party dies, their interest doesn’t pass to the surviving owner. Rather, ownership passes to the deceased person’s heirs, typically their spouse and children. In many, if not most cases, the surviving property owner must wait for the estate to be probated before they can exercise their ownership rights. In other words, they can’t sell, refinance, or even take out an equity line secured by the property until after probate, which usually takes a minimum of four-to-six months. In those relatively few cases involving Tenancy in Common that don’t require probate, the process of obtaining the proper affidavits, quitclaim deeds and releases from each and every heir can be cumbersome and expensive. This process becomes especially difficult when heirs are under eighteen (18) and therefore are not legally competent to sign a deed.

As an attorney who handles real estate, domestic/family law and estate planning matters, I am routinely contacted by surviving family members trying to sort out matters after a loved one’s passing. Far too often, they find out too late that they didn’t have JTWROS and face a long, complicated procedure to get clear title to a house they THOUGHT they owned. I urge you not to find out too late. Find out now and be sure. 

Many people who think they have JTWROS don’t. At a luncheon I attended earlier this week, eight people owning nine properties all assured me they had JTWROS. When I checked for them, four of them WHO WERE ABSOLUTELY SURE THEY HAD JTWROS did not.  That’s over 40 percent. When learning of this, 100 percent of them opted to fix the situation with corrective deed work. 

If you want to know for certain whether you have Joint Tenancy with Survivorship, please contact me through my website at www.dlawler.com.  There, you can click the “Contact Us” page and provide me with your name and the property address.  I will research your deed and let you know whether you have JTWROS.  If not, it is a fast and inexpensive process to fix the situation.