Real Estate Check-Up

Do you own real estate jointly with another person such as your spouse? It is important to check your deed to see if it includes survivorship language. If one owner dies and the deed includes survivorship language, the real property can pass to the surviving joint owner without probate. Unfortunately, I have seen many deeds for property owned by a married couple that do not contain this language. In these cases, when one spouse dies, the surviving spouse only owns one-half of the property and the deceased spouse's half must pass through probate. If you are uncertain about your deed, please seek the advice of attorney.