There are many titling errors that often arise when people hold assets as joint tenants with right of survivorship (JTWROS). With these kinds of titling arrangements when one of the co-tenants dies the other tenant will often inherit everything. There could be instances where a person might form a JTWROS with someone else (like a spouse or child), without realizing the potential consequences. Another drawback with these sorts of arrangements is that a person’s creditors might have access to the jointly-held assets of the JTWROS. Instead of forming a JTWROS, people might consider the alternative of titling their jointly-held property as a tenancy in common (TIC). A TIC would give each of the co-owners a share in the property that they could sell or give away and that their heirs could inherit.
See Best Ways To Title Your Assets — Avoid Traps, Nasdaq, October 23, 2015.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
