One of the most important aspects of estate planning is deciding who will inherit your property. Often, real estate is the most valuable (and cherished) asset addressed in a will, so it’s essential to understand property titles and how they affect who your real estate will go to. Below is a brief overview of the two main property types and why they matter when it comes to estate planning.

Sole Ownership

Sole ownership refers to a piece of property that has just one person listed on the real estate title. When a person has sole ownership of a house, they can appoint whomever they’d like to inherit the property by stating the wish in their will.

In most cases in Oregon, real estate must go through probate before it can be transferred to the decedent's heirs or beneficiaries. An estate planning attorney will be able to tell you if your property will need to go through this process.

If the homeowner passes away without a will, the property will be transferred to the appropriate people based on Oregon’s intestate succession laws, which follows a hierarchy of surviving relatives. The spouse will be first in line to inherit the property, for example. If there is no spouse, it then goes to the surviving children. If there are no surviving children, it goes to the surviving grandchildren, and so on. 

Joint Ownership

When two or more people own a property with rights of survivorship, this is referred to as joint ownership. When one owner dies, ownership is immediately transferred to the surviving owner or owners without having to go through probate.

Spouses who buy real estate together often take advantage of joint ownership as an estate planning strategy to avoid probate. When the second real estate owner dies, the property will be transferred to the beneficiary named in their will or through intestate succession if no will exists.

For more information about wills and real estate inheritances, get in touch with Stayton Law in Oregon. For more than 20 years, this firm has been providing high-quality legal advice in a range of practice areas, from estate planning and real estate to employment law and elder law. Visit their website to learn more, and call (503) 769-7741 to set up a consultation today.