The way you own property may affect how it is distributed after your death. If you own a property jointly with someone, you must know your rights are in dealing with your interest in the property. It may be advisable to change the form of ownership to achieve your estate planning goals.
Property ownership is the state of having the control over such property. This comes with various common forms.
One form of property ownership is the sole ownership. This form of property ownership is solely handled by single person and the same person manages everything. The property can be own by an unmarried person and by a legally divorced person.
The joint tenancy is another form of property ownership whereas the property is owned by two or three or more person that has an equal share of rights to possess the whole property and also an equal share of interests. Once the co-owner dies, the alive person will take responsibility of the entire property.
Another form is the community property. On this form of property ownership, the state that recognizes community property is the only one that implements this form of ownership. This is a special form of joint between the husband and wife that owns the other half.
Tenants in common are defined as the property that is owned by two or more person at the same time. Unlike with the joint tenancy, the interests and the rights of each person is not necessarily equal.
Some states have the special form of joint tenancy that is Tenancy in the Entirety. The joint tenants are husband and wife. They have the undivided interest in the real property and have the right of survivorship.
The following forms of owning a real property is all present interests, meaning the owner have the right now. There are also future interests such as the interests in poverty that come into effect in the future. Practically, future interests are based upon the occurrence of a contingency, such as someone dies and the decedent's interest in the property passes in accordance with the person's last will or trust.
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