October 2, 2017

If the joint owner on a piece of property passes away, other individual owners may have questions about removing their name and whether or not such property goes through probate. Joint ownership property provides rights of survivorship benefits, meaning that the property does not need to go through the probate process. 

One of the major advantages of this type of ownership is that the property belongs to the surviving joint owners upon death and the ownership will transfer to the surviving joint owner or owners regardless of the estate plan put in place by the individual who passed away. At the moment of death, the surviving joint owner gets the decedent’s interest in the property immediately but the county involved does need to be notified of the death in order to have the title cleared.

You do this by recording what is known as a surviving joint tenant affidavit and an experienced estate administration attorney can help you with this process. The affidavit is extremely technical and should include critical information so that it successfully removes the decedent’s name and clears the title.

The preparation can be very complicated and should be left to an experienced attorney. Although sample forms may be obtained online to get a general idea of the basic information included in this process, it is recommended that you schedule a consultation with a knowledgeable estate planning attorney who can help you walk you through the official legal steps.