Your will enables you to determine the beneficiaries of the
property in your estate. It is important to understand, however,
that some property will be handled outside of your estate, which is
to say that it will not necessarily be governed by the terms of
your will. Therefore, it is crucial that those types of property
are carefully considered when preparing your estate plan.
Property Held Jointly With Another Person
One asset that will pass outside of your estate is any property
that you hold jointly with another person. There are two types of
property ownership of real estate. The first, and most common, is
"joint tenancy". This type of ownership means that the
co-owners do not own a specified share of the property, and when
the first co-owner dies, the surviving co-owner will become the
sole owner of the property through the operation of a the legal
principle of survivorship. The surviving owner will be able to
transfer the title to the property into their own
