California Partition Law Blog
Relationships are hard, and real estate relationships are even harder. People can own real estate, called “holding title,” in many different ways. One of the more common ways that non-married couples hold title to real estate is as a joint tenant. And one of the core features of a joint tenancy is a “right of survivorship,” which means that if one of the owners dies, then the other ones inherit their shares automatically without the need for the probate process.
Instead of a lengthy court process, in order to perfect title, the only thing that the other owner must do is to record an affidavit of joint tenant. This article will provide some background information on joint tenancies, explain things needed to know about an affidavit of death of joint tenant, and discuss a common scenario so that people who find themselves in these situations will be better equipped to handle them.
What is a joint tenant?