Why isn't joint ownership the best way to plan?

To properly view this site, javascript must be enabled and Flash version 9 or higher must be installed.
Get the latest Flash player
William Conway
Law Offices of William Conway
www.conway-law.com  
703-448-7575

William A. Conway, J.D., in a professional career as a tax attorney, investment banker, and legal educator, serves his clients with both financial and legal counsel. A graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, he is a registered investment advisor and tax attorney included in both Who's Who in Finance and Industry and Who's Who in American Law. Mr. Conway is also a member of the bars of the Commonwealth of Virginia, District of Columbia, and the State of Maryland.

His practice is dedicated to building wealth enhancement strategies for his client families' estates and businesses, using far-reaching, advanced planning to achieve preserved wealth for generations. The firm's priority is our relationship with our client families and their personal, professional and estate goals.

Mr. Conway was an Adjunct Professor of tax law at George Mason University School of Law, where he taught law for five years and has lectured at Georgetown University Law Center. He annually teaches continuing education courses on estate planning and wealth preservation for attorneys, financial planners, and accountants.

A founding member of WealthCounsel, LLC , he serves as chairman of the Legacy Consulting Group and is a member of the National Academy of Elder Care Law Attorneys. In addition, Mr. Conway serves on the Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce and is President of the McLean Symphony, McLean, Virginia.

Invited for guest appearances on television programs such as "The Money Makers" on PBS, Mr. Conway also created and hosted the radio series, "Legacy," for many years on Washington Business Radio. You may now hear him on his new show, "Family Fortunes" on WTNT 570 AM Radio in the Washington Metro area each Saturday morning.

Generations, an updated companion book to the original "Legacy" radio show, is a 500+ page, hard-backed book, indexed by subject, and includes every aspect of estate planning.

Why isn't joint ownership the best way to plan?

In this video series, William Conway explains the basics of estate planning.

This series: 43,999 views

Print

Transcripts

Host: Why is a joint ownership the best way to plan?

William Conway: The problem to an ownership is that we do not control it very well and if we do not control it very well, bad things can happen. For example, the person who has passed away maybe survived by a person who him or to herself is incapacitated at the moment in time that they received the property. Then we are into a problem of once again, who is going to control that property, who is going to direct to whom it goes, who is going to pay the bills.

We also have some issues in terms of being able to direct property for purposes of taxation. Joint Tenant Rights of Survivorship does not help us in trying to provide the least amount of money to go to the Federal Government in the form of taxes and other means. Finally, joint tenancy does not allow us to direct the property in a fashion that allows the assets to be as a protect for the beneficiary that we would like to give it to.

Other Videos

  • How and When to Use a 1099 Form Basic information to prepare an individual income tax return, Form 1040 and the basic schedules. This video is designed for those individuals who want to undertake the preparation of their tax return. There are tips and pointers for those who have attempted this feat in prior years.
  • How to Repay Your Student Loans This video will explain the best ways to reduce your student loans quickly, and save money while doing so.
  • What are terms and closing costs? In this video, mortgage advisor, Jeff Thomas describes how to purchase your first home and the process you must go through to obtain a mortgage. This video is designed for first time homebuyers and also provides valuable information to indivduals who have purchased a home in the past. This video includes an overview of the four parts of a loan file, mortgage jargon, the loan process, house hunting, the types of mortgages available and the 7 steps on how to manage your mortgage correctly.
  • What is student loan forgiveness?
  • Why is savings so important for debt management? In this video, Vikki Frank, Kandance Beamon, and Linda Stroman, financial education providers describe several key areas to address regarding debt reduction and elimination. This video is designed to deliver basic financial information to assist individuals and families to be able to identify goals and process strategies for their specific financial needs. The topics included in this video cover are: self-evaluation of debt load, budgeting strategies, understanding the effects on your credit and scores, why savings is important, how to develop a debt elimination plan, and the importance of financial education and how financial counseling may be useful.
  • Financial Planning In this video David John Marotta explains the importance of financial planning and budgeting.