Q: The title to my home is in “joint tenancy with rights of survivorship”. What does it take for me to change the title to “tenancy in common”?
A: Holding title in joint tenancy with rights of survivorship means that each owner of the home owns an equal undivided share of the home and in case one of the owners dies the remaining owners automatically own the property together.
Ownership as tenants in common would allow people to own a property in percentages — the percentages can be different — and upon the death of one of the owners, that person’s share in the building would be transferred according to that person’s will or according to the laws of the state in which the person lived.
If you have a 75 percent ownership in the property, you can convey a portion of that interest to other family members. Each owner owns his or her interest in the building separately from the other, yet each owner has the right to use the building as a whole.
To change title from joint tenancy to tenants in common, all owners of the property should sign a deed conveying their interest in the property to themselves and should specify the interest that each owner holds in the property. The deed should also indicate that the owners hold title as tenants in common and not as joint tenants.
Finally, the deed must be recorded with the recorder of deeds in the county in which the property is located to make the transfer of title of record and effective.
My wife and I bought a home in the suburbs of Detroit in 1969. When we divorced in 1977 the divorce decree says that the house “shall be owned by the parties as tenants in common with no right of survivorship to either party”. She died last week on 11-25-11 with no will that anyone has found as of yet, 11-29-11 and it seems pretty unlikely that she actually had a will especially since she died so suddenly, her heart failed at 73 years old. I’m pretty sure that I have no ownership rights or responsibilities associated with the house, apparently all utilities were in her name, but will a probate court have to decide what will happen to the house in terms of what my 2 sons will inherit or other of my ex-wife’s family members will inherit as a result of probate and who is responsible for the continuation of the payment of real estate taxes, insurance, maintenance and utilities until everything would be settled by the probate court?
Thank you.
Ron Blake
614-836-2440