Ask a Lawyer - Archive

I have a house with my name only on the deed with a mortgage. Can I add someone to the deed in case I die?

You asked whether it is possible to add another person to the ownership of your mortgaged home so that that person will become the sole owner upon your death. One simple approach would be to deed the property to yourself and that other person as joint tenants with right of survivorship. However, we do not recommend that approach. Instead, we ordinarily recommend that clients in your situation should establish a revocable living trust, naming whomever they want as the remainder beneficiaries, and then in cases such as yours, transfer their home into the trust.

Another possibility would be for you to put your home in a land trust and name the other person whom you have in mind as the remainder beneficiary of the trust. Upon your death the home would be transferred to the named beneficiary. A land trust can not provide all the benefits of a revocable living trust in serving as the basis for an overall estate plan, but it, too, can accomplish your objective without need of a probate proceeding upon your death.