Life Choices

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS

Life Choices: Page 16 of 36 pdf order

Financial considerations: Non-probate transfers & real estate transfers

Non-probate transfers

After your death, your property may be legally transferred to beneficiaries you have named without going through probate court, if you designate the property in a certain way. Pay on death (POD) designations are used for property such as bank accounts; transfer on death (TOD) designations are used for items such as brokerage accounts and titled motor vehicles; and beneficiary deeds are used for real estate.

These designations may be revoked by the owner, and the consent of the beneficiary is not required for the owner to mortgage or sell the property. Because these designations do not describe in detail the order in which the property will be passed among the intended beneficiaries, they are not intended to be substitutes for a will.

Real estate transfers

Transferring property is common among seniors for several reasons. Before selling property, transferring a title or adding a name to a title, seniors should consider some common situations:

• A person who has deeded his or her house to another person can be forced to move out against his or her will. The person to whom the house is deeded may sell the house whether the person living there agrees to it or not.
• Some seniors want to add a person to their deed with equal property share and a right of survivorship. To make this happen the deed must say "as joint tenants with right of survivorship."
• If joint tenants are on the deed, one tenant cannot sell the property without the other's consent. When one tenant dies, the other automatically retains the property.
• To sell property, the current owner's name must be on the deed. If one of the names on the title is of someone who has died, the name will have to be removed before a sale can proceed. An attorney can help with this.

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