- You own your home.
- You are in a committed relationship with your partner.
- You want to make sure that when you die, your home goes to your partner.
- If so, you might consider owning the home as joint tenants, with right of survivorship.
Why own as joint tenants rather than just leaving the house to your partner in your will? Even if you die with a will, your relatives (”legal heirs”) may go to court to challenge the will. This has happened all too often to LGBT people. Ownership in joint tenancy means that the surviving joint tenant immediately becomes the owner of the home when you die. This is called a Right of Survivorship.
The main advantage of joint tenancy is the automatic transfer of ownership when one of the joint tenants dies. A home in joint tenancy does not have to go through the probate estate of the person who died.
A word of caution: property held in joint tenancy can be affected by several types of taxes, including federal and state income taxes, estate taxes and gift taxes. Tax laws change often. Carefully consider tax laws when deciding how to title your home or other property.
As always, consult an attorney or financial planner.