The Legal Eagle – Advantages and Risks of Joint Ownership with Right of Survivorship

David Shulman fielded calls about the so-called  "poor man's will" during Monday's Legal Eagle show during Rochester Today on KROC-AM.

Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship is a commonly used legal tool that can help a person of relatively modest means avoid having their estate go through probate, but it's not without risk.

Shulman, a.k.a The Legal Eagle, explained that placing property (homes, cars, bank accounts, stocks and more) in joint tenancy with right of survivorship allows the other person listed as an owner of the asset to assume full ownership when the other person dies without dealing with probate and with very little paperwork. The survivor only needs to obtain a death certificate and fill out an affidavit of survivorship in order to transfer ownership of the property.

On the downside, providing another person with joint ownership also provides them with full control of the property or asset. That means the other owner could withdraw funds from an account without the other joint owners permission. In other words, BE VERY CAFEFUL when granting joint ownership to anyone.

David plans to further discuss the potential pitfalls of joint ownership when he returns to the KROC-AM studio for another Legal Eagle Show next month (tentatively scheduled April 13).

Click on the play button below to listen to the show.