{"id":15764,"date":"2021-11-23T19:31:05","date_gmt":"2021-11-24T01:31:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sfwpartnersllc.com\/?p=15764"},"modified":"2021-11-23T19:31:05","modified_gmt":"2021-11-24T01:31:05","slug":"consider-all-the-angles-of-joint-ownership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/consider-all-the-angles-of-joint-ownership\/","title":{"rendered":"Consider all the angles of joint ownership"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Estate planners generally tout the virtues of owning property jointly \u2014 and with good reason. Joint ownership offers several advantages for surviving family members. But this shouldn\u2019t be viewed as a panacea for every estate planning concern. You must also be aware of all the implications.<\/p>\n

2 types of joint ownership<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the name implies, joint ownership requires interests in property by more than one party. The type of joint ownership depends on the wording of the title to the property.<\/p>\n

From a legal standpoint, there are two main options for married couples:<\/p>\n

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  1. Joint tenants with rights of survivorship (JTWROS)<\/em><\/strong>.<\/strong> This is the most common form and often is used for a personal residence or other real estate. With JTWROS, one spouse\u2019s share of the property can be sold without the other spouse\u2019s consent. The property is subject to the reach of creditors of all owners.<\/li>\n
  2. Tenancy by the entirety (TBE)<\/em><\/strong>.<\/strong> In this case, one spouse\u2019s share of the property can\u2019t be sold without the other spouse joining in. But TBE offers more protection from creditors in noncommunity property states if only one spouse is liable for the debt. Currently, a TBE is available in slightly more than half the states.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Property may also be owned as a \u201ctenancy in common.\u201d With this form of ownership, each party has a separate transferable right to the property. Generally this would apply to co-owners who aren\u2019t married to each other, though in certain situations married couples may opt to be tenants in common.<\/p>\n

    Key benefits <\/strong><\/p>\n

    The main estate planning attraction of joint ownership is that the property avoids probate. Probate is the process, based on prevailing state law, whereby a deceased person\u2019s assets are legally transferred to the beneficiaries. Depending on the state, it may be time-consuming or costly \u2014 or both \u2014 as well as being intrusive. Jointly owned property, however, simply passes to the surviving owner.<\/p>\n

    Disadvantages<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Joint ownership is a convenient and inexpensive way to establish ownership rights. But the long-standing legal concept has its drawbacks, too. Some disadvantages of joint ownership relate to potential liability for federal gift and estate tax. Comparable rules may also apply on the state level.<\/p>\n

    For example, if parties other than a married couple create joint ownership, it generally triggers a taxable gift, unless each one contributed property to obtain a share of the title. However, for a property interest in securities or a financial account, there\u2019s no taxable gift until the other person makes a withdrawal.<\/p>\n

    Lessons to be learned<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Joint ownership is a valuable estate planning tool, especially because it avoids probate. But it\u2019s not the solution for all problems. Nor should this technique be considered a replacement for a will. We can help coordinate joint ownership with other aspects of your estate plan.<\/p>\n

    \u00a9 2021<\/em><\/p>\n

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    \n<\/html><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Estate planners generally tout the virtues of owning property jointly \u2014 and with good reason. Joint ownership offers several advantages for surviving family members. But this shouldn\u2019t be viewed as a panacea for every estate planning concern. You must also be aware of all the implications. 2 types of joint ownership As the name implies, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,9,10],"tags":[8,11,12],"class_list":["post-15764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-estates","category-news","tag-articles","tag-news","tag-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15764\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}