When completing your estate planning, it is important to work with a skilled lawyer who tailors your plan to your specific needs. Determining your assets and their ownership is vital to protecting your family and business.
Amity Law Group LLP provides customized legal solutions for our clients. Our experienced probate attorneys could help protect and determine how ownership of your assets should be held in Covina. Contact us today for a free consultation to discuss your estate planning needs.
Asset Protection Planning
Securing one’s assets involves making decisions to protect an individual’s property, family, and business from potential lawsuits, creditors, or bankruptcy. Asset protection provides a clear plan for distributing a person’s property upon death.
There are many types of estate planning documents that can provide asset protection. It is vital to create a comprehensive plan that includes all a person’s assets and ensures they are properly owned and titled to correspond with estate planning documents.
A Covina lawyer who handles property and asset ownership could help clients make the best plan for themselves and their families.
Understanding Ownership of Assets
There are several ways to establish ownership of assets in Covina. An individual can only become an owner of an asset once their name is on the property and added to the title. There are five primary ways to hold a title:
Sole Ownership
When one person owns an asset alone, they are said to have sole ownership. They can make all decisions regarding the asset.
Community Property
When a property is obtained during a marriage, the law views it as being owned equally by both spouses, regardless of who purchased it. This is called community property.
When one spouse passes away, the surviving spouse gets 50% of the property, and the deceased spouse can dispose of 50% of the property per the terms of their will or trust.
Community Property with Right of Survivorship
Couples can decide that upon one spouse’s death, the other spouse automatically becomes the sole owner of the property if they hold the asset as community property with the right of survivorship.
Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship
When two or more people have an equal interest in an asset, they are considered joint tenants. When one joint tenant dies, the surviving receives their interest in the asset. Someone does not have to be married to hold an asset in joint tenancy with another person.
Tenants in Common
When two or more people have an undivided, transferable interest in an asset often proportional to their contribution, they are considered tenants in common. Each person can sell or transfer their share in the asset to someone else.
Individuals or spouses can meet with a Covina lawyer who understands assets and ownership for support in creating a customized estate plan.
Contact a Covina Attorney to Learn More About Assets and Ownership
Our team of hardworking legal professionals could help you plan for your assets now and into the future. Carefully identifying all your properties and noting their ownership will help ensure each is held and disbursed according to your wishes.
Meeting with a Covina estate planning attorney to discuss your assets and their ownership could answer any questions you have. Call Amity Law Group today and let us help you create an estate plan that works for you.
