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JOINT OWNERSHIP RIGHT OF SURIVIVORSHIP Often between a Husband and Wife --- deeds with Joint Tenancy Right of Survivorship provisions are advisable because upon the first spouse to pass the other spouse owns the property outright without the need of doing anything further in most instances. However, the downside to having someone other than your spouse on your deed with you are several such as: if the other person on your deed is sued then your property is also their property and is subject to the payment of their liability in that lawsuit. Furthermore, if the other person on your deed is married (such as a son or daughter) and the property is used in the marriage in any significant fashion such property could be part of a divorce court property split as to the child’s interest in that property. Finally, when someone inherits a property by Will or otherwise they inherit that property with what tax law call’s a step-up in basis. A base in tax law is the amount you paid for an item such as a house and the gain is the increase that the house would be worth in subsequently years. When someone is on the deed they take your basis in the deed, however, if they inherit the property they obtain a step-up in bases to the current value of the property at the time the person who owned the property died. Consequently, you can see there are both advantages and disadvantage to owning a piece of real property/real estate with someone as Joint Tenancy With Right of Survivorship.