Right of Survivorship

June 14th, 2006

Right of Survivorship refers to Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship or JWROS. Joint Tenancy with right of survivorship provides joint tenants with rights which are different from the rights enjoyed by Tenants in Common. Most people prefer Joint Tenancy with right of survivorship rather than just a Joint Tenancy.

What is right of survivorship?

The automatic transfer of ownership at death of a joint tenant is called a right of survivorship of the other joint tenant.

Benefits of having the right of survivorship (Tenants in Common vs with joint tenants with right of survivorship)

A tenant in common has a separate ownership in the Real Estate property, so Tenants in Common can leave their interest in the Real Estate property to an heir upon their death.

Joint tenants have a complete ownership so they don’t have an interest that they can bequeath an heir.

Upon death of a joint tenant with right of survivorship, the surviving tenant automatically owns the entire Real Estate property.

Married couples and joint tenants with right of survivorship (JWROS)

Married couples often use the Property title joint tenants with right of survivorship (JWROS). There is an automatic right for a surviving spouse to inherit the Real Estate property. Married couples know that they inherit even if there is no will. The spouse will not pay estate tax on the inheritance.