Legal fights over estates are horrifically expensive and can tear families apart.

This is the third in a series of columns explaining how to eliminate these fights by eliminating the estate.

I discussed the most obvious ways in the first two, i.e. by spending it or giving it away before you die. There are also options for leaving nothing of an estate while passing wealth to your beneficiaries. So, this week I start a three-column miniseries about joint tenancy.

There are three types of joint tenancy. I’ll start with the type most of you will be familiar with – in the context of a typical family home.

When purchasing a home together, a couple’s lawyer or notary will ask whether they want ownership to be joint tenancy or tenancy in common.

With tenancy in common, each owner’s 50% share becomes part of their estate on their death and passes to beneficiaries, according to their will.

On........

© Castanet