Joint tenancy Washington DC

provided by: 

While the living trust is the most flexible device used to avoid the costs and delays of probate, several other devices are available. These can be used in conjunction with the living trust or, if your property holdings are simple, instead of the living trust. The most important of these devises is the "joint tenancy". "Totten trusts", "payable-on-death" bank accounts, "transfer-on-death" security designations and life insurance should also be considered as ways of avoiding probate.

Joint tenancy is discussed below.

• What is joint tenancy?
• Can a will "break" a joint tenancy?
• What is a joint tenancy "for convenience only"?
• Should I put my property in joint tenancy with my children?

What is a "joint tenancy"?

A joint tenancy is a form of shared ownership, with the key feature being the "right of survivorship". This means that while the joint tenants equally share ownership during their lifetimes, when one joint tenant dies, his or her interest is extinguished, leaving the surviving joint tenant(s) with sole ownership.

In some states, the survivorship feature attaches automatically when title was held as "joint tenants". But in many states today the survivorship feature does not attach to a joint tenancy unless it is expressly stated in the instrument. In these states, for the surviving joint tenant to take the property the conveyance must add some special language such as "as joint tenants with right of survivorship". Simply saying "as joint tenants" will not be sufficient.

Can a will "break" a joint tenancy?

"My dad left a will which left all of his property (including his home) to me and my brother. But a few years before he died he had placed his home in joint tenancy with my sister. Who gets the home?"

Your sister gets the home - unless you and your brother can prove that the joint tenancy was established "for convenience only". This would be very hard to prove, particularly when the asset transferred is real estate. Therefore, because the right of survivorship attaches to joint tenancy property, your dad's interest in the home probably passes automatically to your sister on his death. The right of the surviving joint tenant is superior to that of heirs of the deceased joint tenant.

What is a joint tenancy "for convenience only"?

"A few years ago after my father suffered a heart attack, he put my sister's name on his bank account, making her a joint tenant with him. He did this so that she could have access to his funds to pay his bills if he became incapacitated. Dad recently died. His will leaves all his property to his three children equally. My sister claims she should take all of the funds in the bank account and only the rest of Dad's property should be divided among us. I don't think this is what Dad wanted. Who will get the funds in the bank account?"