CONSIDER ALL THE ANGLES OF JOINT OWNERSHIP
Estate planners generally tout the virtues of owning property jointly — and with good reason. Joint ownership offers several advantages for surviving family members. But this shouldn’t be viewed as a panacea for every estate planning woe. You must also be aware of all the implications.
Two types of joint ownership…………
As the name implies, joint ownership requires interests in property by more than one party. The type of joint ownership depends on the wording of the title to the property.
From a legal standpoint, there are two main options for married couples:
- Joint tenants with rights of survivorship (JTWROS). This is the most common form and typically is used for a personal residence or other real estate. With JTWROS, either spouse can sell the property without the other’s consent. [GD(P1]The property is subject to the reach of creditors of either owner.
- Tenancy by the entirety (TBE). In this case, one owner can’t sell the property without the other joining in. But TBE offers more protection from creditors in non-community property states if only one spouse is liable for the debt. Currently, a TBE is available in slightly more than half the states.
Non-spouses may also own property as a “tenancy in common.” With this form of ownership, each party has a separate transferable right to the property.
Key benefit…………
The main estate planning attraction of joint ownership is that the property avoids probate. Probate is the process, based on prevailing state law, whereby a deceased’s assets are legally transferred to the beneficiaries. Depending on the state, it may be time-consuming or costly — or both — as well as being intrusive. Jointly owned property, however, simply passes to the surviving owner.
In addition, joint ownership ensures that the property won’t be part of a will contest. Thus, it can preserve family harmony. For instance, two siblings likely won’t clash in court over the family vacation home if it’s jointly owned.
Disadvantages
Joint ownership is a convenient and inexpensive way to establish ownership rights. But the long-standing legal concept has its drawbacks, too. Some disadvantages of joint ownership relate to potential liability for federal gift and estate tax. Comparable rules may also apply on the state level.
For starters, if parties other than a married couple create joint ownership, it generally triggers a taxable gift, unless each one contributed his or her own property to obtain a share of the title. However, for a property interest in securities or a financial account, there’s no taxable gift until the other person actually makes a withdrawal.
For smaller gifts, the gift tax liability may be covered by the annual gift tax exclusion ($15,000 per recipient in 2020). If the gift exceeds the exclusion amount, it can be sheltered from gift tax by the gift and estate tax exemption ($11.58 million in 2020). However, doing so will erode the remaining estate tax shelter.
Note that property that avoids probate may still be included in your taxable estate. To avoid both probate and estate tax, you must relinquish all interests in the property — including ownership and control over assets and benefits. Joint ownership doesn’t meet these requirements.
Also, be aware of possible income tax repercussions. For estate tax purposes, if one spouse passes away, the value of JTWROS property is “stepped” up to the fair market value on the date of death. So there’s no income tax to pay if the beneficiary sells the property right away. However, a steep tax may be owed if the surviving owner sells his or he