Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Florida

Re: How should a deed to a house (4 owners) be titled?

It would appear that the house should be deeded by the personal representative of the estate in the manner the devisees direct. You clearly know that if it is deeded to the 4 of you as tenants in common, each of you owns a 1/4 undivided interest that can become marital property in the event of a dissolution of marriage and/or subject to claims of creditors (assuming there is a market for a house owned by 4 persons). If you have it deeded to you as joint tenants with rights of survivorship, and it remains that way "down the road" as some of the individual owners die, you would need to file affidavits of survivorship to show who among the owners is still living. Additionally, depending upon the value of the property, there may be a tax consequence to one or more of you at the time of death of a joint owner who is not an ancestor or descendent of the survivor. Here I am speaking of inheritances taxes which might be involved if you were, for instance, to inherit a portion of the 1/4 interest of a nephew. Assuming that it is the desire of the devisees to retain ownership of the property, certainly deeding it to the 4 of you as joint tenants with rights of survivorship is a superior solution.