Terms:

• Severalty – taking title as sole owner or legal entity (can be an LLC, which is a GREAT way to own property, even your personal home).

Concurrent ownership – two of more undivided interest:

• Tenants in common – divide it based on your share, have rights to your part which means you can sell off what you own without consenting the other person. You have rights to the entire property even though you might only own a small share. If there are issues you can petition to divide it up, called a partition action.
• Joint tenancy with right of survivorship (JTWRS) – no will or probate needed. You can deed it to a straw person (escrow) if you want to sell a portion and create a new JTWRS.
• Community property – husband and wife are equals, each spouse has ownership of half including wages earned. This is automatic in marriage unless stated otherwise in the deed. Each person can will their half, otherwise it’s survivorship rules if there are no children. If there are children, it uses intestate succession (which is a fancy term for who the next heirs are).

One good phrase to remeber with this is, one to buy, two to sell. One person can purchase it, but it takes both of them to sign off when you need to sell. Property before marriage is kept separate and so is inherited money after marriage.

• Community property with rights of survivorship – (CPWROS) – avoid probate on death, can deed to themselves easily. Husband and wife only. Best way if you do not want to will and deal with probate if a spouse dies. You still need a will if you both pass within a short time frame.

There are many ways to construct a deed, each one is different depending on the situation. Always consult a lawyer before purchasing anything this large, it is such a small fee compared to the mess that you can create for the future. These things can often change too, so don’t feel stuck by any means.