Last week we discussed one of the three most common ways to hold title, Tenants by the Entirety. This week we will talk about a very similar topic known as Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship.

Like Tenants by the Entirety, Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship allows for the property to automatically vest in the surviving party if the other passes away.

If you are not married and want to create survivorship rights this is the way to handle it. The vesting on the deed will read Joe Smith and Jane Foster, as joint tenants with right of survivorship. This language must be on the Deed for survivorship rights to be created.

However, due to the ownership structure Creditors can lay a claim against the property based on one of the Joint Tenants debts. As long as the right of survivorship is in place the creditors claim is limited, but if you choose to sell the property it still creates a cloud on the title and must be cleared before it can be sold.