At Gibson & Mullennix, PLLC we handle all types of land issues, including those dealing with the preparation of deeds. In Mississippi, there are several types of deeds and several types of language lawyers may use to help their clients convey property.
Today we look at an important distinction on language regarding transfer of property after death. Typically, when a husband and wife buy a property the title is transferred to them via Quitclaim or Warranty Deed as joint tenants in common with full rights of survivorship. This trend became increasingly popular in the early 90’s and 2000’s. The reason this occurred is because after the passage of one of the parties, the property upon death of the joint tenant is transferred to the surviving party without necessity of probate or any other legal action. This bypasses a number of steps to ensure the property is transferred by simply adding the term “rights of survivorship.”
Previously, the language joint tenants in common was not added to these deeds which meant the property went to the deceased’s estate rather than the other joint tenant.
When dealing with a family members estate or planning your own estate, it is important to understand the difference and make sure that your property is set up in a matter than won’t burden your family. Our hope is you can make a difficult time less stressful in dealing with land and property issues by taking simple estate planning steps.
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