Estate planning is one of the tools that you can use to ensure the proper distribution of your assets to your loved ones after your death. However, probate is a complex process that requires the disbursal of your assets through the court. If you want to avoid probate after your demise, then joint tenancy can be an excellent option. Assets owned in joint tenancy automatically pass to the surviving owner without the probate when one owner dies. Therefore, it can save a lot of time and money for your inheritors after your demise. A Probate Attorney Near Me 11576 can help you in creating an efficient joint tenancy arrangement.
What Is Joint Tenancy?
Joint tenancy is one of the popular types of joint ownership of property. In this type of property ownership, multiple people share the property with equal rights. In joint tenancy, each owner has an equal right to the share of the rents and property. The best part about joint tenancy is that it allows the ‘right of ownership.’ Hence, the surviving owner will automatically inherit the property of the deceased owner. It means that the tenants cannot name a beneficiary. Even if the owner mentioned the beneficiary, the heir still has no right to the property until the other owners are living.
Create A Joint Tenancy With Probate Attorney Near Me 11576
There are several conditions to create a joint tenancy. You can create a joint tenancy with the right of ownership by meeting the below requirements.
- Unity of Time: All the joint owners must obtain the land at the same time.
- Unity of Title: The same document must convey the title to the tenants.
- Unity of Interest: Each tenant must have an equal share in the property or asset.
- Unity of Possession: Each owner of the property has an equal right to possession.
If you fail to fulfill any of the above unities, the court will not consider your property as a valid joint tenancy with the right of ownership. Moreover, the document for establishing joint tenancy must contain a clear language. A Probate Attorney Near Me 11576 can help you create a joint tenancy hassle-free by handling the paperwork.
How Joint Tenancy Avoids Probate?
Before understanding the process, first of all, you must know what probate is and how it works. It is a legal process by which the distribution of assets of a deceased person takes place to his/her heirs. In this process, the court ensures the proper distribution of assets to the beneficiaries according to the law. The process looks to be simple, but it can be time-consuming and expensive too.
There are various ways to avoid probate after the owner’s death. Among all these processes, the joint tenancy can save time, energy, and money from your heirs after your death. The surviving owner automatically gets the share of the deceased owner without probate in joint ownership by the right of ownership.
For Instance, Bill and Mark are two brothers that own a property equally in joint tenancy. If Bill dies first, then the bill’s share in the property automatically gets a transfer to the Mark. If Mark passes away first, then Bill will be the owner of the whole property due to the right of ownership. However, probate will be unavoidable if both the brothers die.
Other Advantages Of Joint Tenancy
There are various other benefits of using joint tenancy for estate planning. They are:
Inexpensive: The formation of a joint tenancy is cheap. Other substitutes for avoiding probate like building a living trust for transfer of assets to the heirs can be expensive compared to joint tenancy. Moreover, it is simple to create a joint tenancy as it doesn’t require any complex documents. You can easily build this type of ownership without the hassle of complex documents.
Privacy Protection: Joint tenancy can be an excellent option for transferring assets after death for people who value privacy. When probate happens, all your assets become part of the public record. Therefore, anyone can access them to check your property. However, joint tenancy offers complete privacy and doesn’t expose your property and assets to the public after your death. Joint tenancy also provides a clear title transfer to the surviving owner due to the right of survivorship.
Claim The Right Of Ownership With Probate Attorney Near Me 11576
In joint tenancy, the surviving owner has to claim the right of survivorship upon the demise of other owners. If the surviving owner fails to express the claim adequately, then the transfer of the property share might become complicated. Therefore, you must not miss taking help from a professional Probate Attorney Near Me 11576 to get all the work done appropriately and seamlessly.
