Hi. I’m Rob Morrison. For over two decades, I have been helping unmarried couples reduce the stress and risks involved in buying homes and in managing their legal affairs. It is my privilege to help couples ensure that that their financial and personal wishes are carried out and that their loved ones are cared for and protected.
Purchasing a home together can be a source of great satisfaction but it also requires some careful planning and decisions about the structure of ownership and other key legal concerns. After finding the right home and arranging financing, the next important decision you must make as a couple is how to take title. This is a question to consider well before you are ready to close the sale. There are three basic options:
1. Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship (JTWROS).
With JTWROS if one of you dies, the survivor becomes the sole legal owner of the home as a matter of law without going through probate. All that is required to have the interest of the deceased Partner transferre to the survivor is to record a death certificate in the county property records.
2. Tenants in Common (TIC). This means that each of you owns an undivided interest in the home (it doesn't have to be 50/50) and if one of you dies, his or her ownership passes according to his or her Last Will and Testament. It requires probating the Last Will to pass title to the surviving Partner or someone else.
3. Community Property. If you are Washington Registered Domestic Partners you can take ownership as community property. This means you own the home equally but ownership does not pass automatically to the survivor at the first death. It still requires probating the deceased Partner’s Last Will to pass title to the survivor.
After you decide how to take title and the purchase is completed, there are some other things you can do to protect yourselves with the ownership of the home and your other assets:
1. Last Wills and Testaments. These allow you to leave your assets to your Partner or whomever you wish. Without a valid Last Will, the legislature has written a will for you and your assets will go to your parents, siblings or maybe even distant nieces and nephews and your Partner or friends won’t receive anything.
2. Financial and Healthcare Powers of Attorney. In these documents you can appoint your Partner to handle your finances and healthcare decisions if you become incapacitated. Without them, your biological family would have the right to make these decisions for you.
3. Healthcare Directives (Living Wills). This is your statement to the world that describes how you wish to be cared for in the event that you cannot make decisions for yourself about your medical treatment due to being in a coma or other incapacitated state. .
4. Washington State Registered Domestic Partners. If you register as domestic partners with the Washington Secretary of State you will have all of the legal protections and obligations of married couples.
5. Domestic Partnership Agreement. This is a legally enforceable contract between you and your Partner that clarifies the rights and obligations of each of you to jointly owned real estate as well as other assets. Without this agreement, whether you are Washington State Registered Domestic Partners or not, you and your Partner have significant and valuable rights to each other’s assets and income. It is similar to a prenuptial agreement and allows the two of you to decide how you want your assets owned and what happens to your assets if you split up. It is especially important if your asset situations or incomes are very different from each other or if your contributions to a jointly owned home are very different.
There are also other actions you can take to protect yourselves and your loved ones. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or if I can help.
Rob Morrison is an attorney who for over 20 years has been offering legal planning, counsel, and document preparation services to clients with a focus on Wills, Estate Planning, Probate, Trusts, Domestic Partnership Agreements, Adoptions, Assisted Reproduction Agreements, and Guardianships. He is a Partner at Short Cressman & Burgess and is conveniently located in downtown Seattle in the Wells Fargo Building, 999 Third Avenue, Suite 3000 and can be reached at (206)223-3920 or rmorrison@scblaw.com; or visit www.Morrison-Legal.com.
(Fine print: Nothing contained herein is intended to give legal advice. You should consult an attorney.)