Share possession of your property with a spouse or heir.
A joint tenancy is when more than one person has equal possession of a property or estate. This is a legal term that is used for this situation and is most common among spouses. There are several reasons why you should think about having a joint tenancy, especially if you are beginning to get older and you know exactly who you want to get your estate after you have passed on. The other advantage is that in some cases, the joint tenancy will allow you to avoid estate taxes – which is a problem if you simply leave your belongings to an heir.
The reason that this works is that most joint tenancies also come with the right of survivorship. What this means is that if one of the members in the joint tenancy dies, then the other surviving members will own the property entirely. Essentially, after you die, your part in the joint tenancy ceases to exist, and you have no claim on it any longer. If you have heirs who were not members of the joint tenancy, then this can cause problems. However, if you would like to make sure that all of your money goes to one of your heirs or to your spouse, then you should definitely enter into a joint tenancy with the right of survivorship.
Depending on the state in which you live, you should make sure that you are certain you want to enter into a joint tenancy. The reason for this is that depending on your state, it may be harder to get out of the joint tenancy than it is in other locations. While it is possible in some cases to get out of the joint tenancy just by filing a document that states the joint tenancy is over, in other cases it is even more difficult.
You should also keep in mind that the joint tenancy can be broken after your death if there is proof that you only entered into the joint tenancy as a matter of convenience. If you’re not sure whether or not a joint tenancy with right of survivorship, then you should discuss the benefits with your lawyer.