Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
joint tenancy in community property state
Can husband and wife who hold assets in joint tenants with right of survivorship form and who live in a community property state designate different beneficiaries for each half of those assets?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: joint tenancy in community property state
No.
Under joint tenancy rules the survivor gets all.
If they want to split their property they need to hold title as community property and execute wills, or better yet, create a revocable trust and transfer the tirle to the property into the trust. The wills or the trust can contain language that will accomplish their goal.
Re: joint tenancy in community property state
They can designate beneficiaries if they "sever" the joint tenancy. If they leave the joint tenancy, the survivor inherits all, and only his/her beneficiaries will inherit.
Husband and wife may be better off holding property as community property, and designating beneficiaries in wills or a living trust.
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