If you own property with another person as joint tenants with right of survivorship,
that is, not as tenants in common, the property will pass directly to
the remaining joint tenant upon your death and will not be a part of
your probate estate. (It will, however, be a part of your taxable
estate.) Frequently, people (particularly in old age) will cause bank
accounts or securities to be placed in the name of the owner with one
or more children or trusted friends as joint tenants with right of
survivorship. This is sometimes done as a matter of convenience to give
the joint tenant continuing access to accounts to pay bills.

It
is important to realize that the ownership of property in this fashion
often leads to unexpected or unwanted results. Disputes, including
litigation, are common between the estate of the original owner and the
surviving joint tenant as to whether the survivor’s name was added as a
matter of convenience and/or management or whether a gift was intended.
The planning built into a well-drawn will may be partially or
completely thwarted by an inadvertently created joint tenancy that
passes property to a beneficiary by operation of law, rather than under
the terms of the will.

Many of these problems
are also applicable to institutional revocable trusts and "pay on
death" forms of ownership of bank, broker, and mutual fund accounts and
savings bonds. Effective planning requires knowledge of the
consequences of each property interest and technique.

For help with chicago estate planning contact Chicago estate planning expert Don Thompson.