Adding wife to deed

[steffb503]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY
I have a property in JTWROS with my sister. I have recently gotten married, can I add my wife to the deed so if I die my wife gets 1/2 of the property? Would I need my sister's signature?

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY
I have a property in JTWROS with my sister. I have recently gotten married, can I add my wife to the deed so if I die my wife gets 1/2 of the property? Would I need my sister's signature?

Your sister would have to agree to give away half of something that would be hers entirely if you die. Is she agreeable to that?

 

[John Se]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY
I have a property in JTWROS with my sister. I have recently gotten married, can I add my wife to the deed so if I die my wife gets 1/2 of the property? Would I need my sister's signature?

you would need your sister to grant from You and Her as JTWROS to you and her as tenants in common, then you wife as your heir would receive the undivided half.

 

[steffb503]

This was the reply from a Real Estate lawyer:
In order to add your wife to the deed, you would have to either have the permission of your co-owner, or if you deeded half of your share to your wife, it would destroy the JTWROS and convert it to a Tenants in Common ownership in which you and your wife would each own 25% and your sister would own 50% and there would no longer be a right of survivorship of any of you in the property.

Yes, you can transfer half of your share to your wife without your sister's signature. That will destroy the JTWROS though and you would all be tenants in common.

You use a quit claim deed to deed your half to you and your wife as tenants in common.

Is this not correct?

 

[FlyingRon]

The lawyer is right. Right now you and your sister have joint tenancy. Any deed on exclusively your part will break the joint tenancy and change it to a 50-50 tenancy in common.
You can't have unequal shares in a joint tenancy so there's no way you can get joint tenancy with you and your wife.

Your sister and you could deed it to all three of you as joint tenants. Note however, that is BAD for your sister potentially as she is giving up 1/6 of the property (she's trading her 1/2 for a 1/3).

 

[justalayman]

Your sister and you could deed it to all three of you as joint tenants. Note however, that is BAD for your sister potentially as she is giving up 1/6 of the property (she's trading her 1/2 for a 1/3).

actuslly if sister is willing this can be set up so op and wife hold 1/2 interest in the whole along with sister holding 1/2 of the whole as two parties in a joint tenancy. There is nothing preventing two parties being considered as one entity for a joint tenancy with another party.

 

[steffb503]

Yes it would ideally be 50% her and 50% us.
My biggest question is can I put the wife on without her signature?

 

[justalayman]

Yes it would ideally be 50% her and 50% us.
My biggest question is can I put the wife on without her signature?

No you can't

 

[steffb503]

No you can't

according to this I can:
In order to terminate a joint tenancy, one of the four unities must be destroyed. You may do this by conveying your joint tenancy interest to any third person. This can be done through gift or sale. Upon termination, a tenancy in common is formed between the third person and the remaining co-tenant(s). A joint tenant may transfer their interest unilaterally and without the knowledge or consent of the co-tenant(s). - See more at: http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/terminating-a-joint-tenancy.html#sthash.KBPAdK5S.dpuf

 

[justalayman]

according to this I can:
In order to terminate a joint tenancy, one of the four unities must be destroyed. You may do this by conveying your joint tenancy interest to any third person. This can be done through gift or sale. Upon termination, a tenancy in common is formed between the third person and the remaining co-tenant(s). A joint tenant may transfer their interest unilaterally and without the knowledge or consent of the co-tenant(s). - See more at: http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/terminating-a-joint-tenancy.html#sthash.KBPAdK5S.dpuf

I believed your question was with the intent of there being a jtwros resulting.

If you want to have a tenancy in common then you are free to transfer your interest to anybody you choose without permission of your sister or even her knowledge.

 

[steffb503]

thank you that is what i needed to know

 

[tranquility]

This was the reply from a Real Estate lawyer:
In order to add your wife to the deed, you would have to either have the permission of your co-owner, or if you deeded half of your share to your wife, it would destroy the JTWROS and convert it to a Tenants in Common ownership in which you and your wife would each own 25% and your sister would own 50% and there would no longer be a right of survivorship of any of you in the property.

Yes, you can transfer half of your share to your wife without your sister's signature. That will destroy the JTWROS though and you would all be tenants in common.

You use a quit claim deed to deed your half to you and your wife as tenants in common.

Is this not correct?

When I saw the question, I was going to say what you wrote. Your research skills comport with my general understanding.

That is not to say that state law and specific facts can go somewhere else, but...I agree with you.

You might use a strawman to transfer the property to and then to you and your wife with sister. Or, you might create a trust and use the strawman (Your state may not need to do the procedural jump. I did not look.) to transfer it to the trust and the sister. It really depends on your goals. What do you want to happen?