Many people without a proper estate plan may decide to hold their assets in joint ownership. Very commonly these would be things like bank accounts and property that are owned jointly by husband and wife. Not the most solid estate litigation, but nonetheless can be a useful and simple way to make sure those assets transfer to the surviving partner immediately.

However, it may not be a very wise decision to hold joint assets with anyone else other than your spouse, not even your own children. The reason for this is that several situations can occur that would put your assets at risk. For example, if your child gets into bad debt and acquires creditors, guess what? Their creditors are now your creditors and they can come for a portion of, or all of, those assets you have jointly held with your child. Another situation could be if your child gets a divorce. The divorcing spouse could try to claim the joint assets. And if you wanted to sell your property you'd have to get them to sign off on it even though it isn't in their name.

Do not give up control of your valuable assets. With a proper estate plan your can achieve all of your goals without giving up any of the controls. Contact a professional Los Angeles estate litigation Attorney for help putting together your estate plan.

*This blog entry was not written by an Attorney and should not be constituted as professional legal advice.