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Joint Tenants or Tenants-In-Common, the choice is yours when purchasing a home
How should title be issued when purchasing a Colorado Springs home?
For a free Buyers Guide, Email Kathy Torline at KTorline@msn.com
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I recently had a delightful couple that wanted to buy a home. We found the perfect one and when I asked them how they wanted to take title, they didn’t know. I explained that they could take title as joint tenants or tenants-in-common. They told me they didn’t care. I told them they should care as it could have long term consequences.
They had both recently retired and were married with children from previous relationships. I then asked them if they had separate or joint wills. They both said separate as they wanted their money to go to their own children. I asked them if they knew the difference between joint tenancy and tenancy-in-common. They did not.
Joint Tenancy means that the surviving spouse gains title to the entire house and that when the surviving spouse dies it goes into the estate of the last one that died and not the one that died first. In other words, if Don died first, the house would become Esther’s without going through probate. Oh, that’s what we want replied Esther, no muss no fuss. 
That’s fine I replied, but when you die, the house or proceeds from it become part of your estate and Don’s children have no claim to it. Oh, that’s not so great replied Don. What else can we do? You can take tenancy-in-common so when one of you dies that part of the house becomes part of the estate of the person who died. You can set it up with your attorney in your wills that the surviving spouse can continue to live in the home until he/she dies and then the proceeds from the sale of the home goes equally to both sets of children. It would have to go through probate, but it protects the interests of both estates.
I advised them to talk to their attorneys and then let me know. They eventually decided on tenancy-in-common after some careful thoughts and today are happily puttering around their new home. So, when your Realtor asks you how you want to take title, think it through and make sure you do what’s right for you. Remember, Joint Tenants own the home equally and when one dies title will only show the survivor as the sole owner, whereas, tenants-in-common both parties have ownership and when one dies their share goes to the estate.
If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Kathy (719-287-1049) KTorline@msn.com
As a Newbie, I am always searching online for articles that can be of assistance to me. Thank you
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