It’s common advice: “Put the house in joint tenancy and you’ll avoid probate.” That’s true once. The survivor receives full title by right of survivorship, and no court order is required. But joint tenancy is a narrow tool. It does not provide incapacity planning, it does not coordinate distribution to children, and it can make second‑marriage planning messy. A revocable living trust, by contrast, provides probate avoidance for both deaths, adds successor trustee authority during illness, and lets you write a clear script for what happens next. This article explains when joint tenancy helps, where it breaks, and how to transition to a trust‑based plan without creating new problems.

What joint tenancy actually does (and what it doesn’t)

Title held as joint tenants with right of survivorship (or tenants by the entirety for some married couples) passes automatically to the surviving owner. That’s the benefit. But if both owners die together, or the second owner dies without their own plan, probate is back. Joint tenancy also says nothing about incapacity; if one owner is ill and the other can’t sign for them, banks and title companies will not accept “spouse says it’s okay” as authority to refinance or sell. You may end up pursuing a court guardianship to sign a deed.

Joint tenancy also ignores your distribution plan for children. The survivor owns everything outright and can leave it however they wish. In first marriages this might be fine. In blended families, it can unintentionally disinherit children from a prior relationship.

Why “just add a child to the deed” is a bad idea

Parents sometimes add an adult child as a joint tenant to “avoid probate.” That transfer can create gift‑tax reporting, expose the home to the child’s creditors or divorce, and forfeit favorable basis treatment. Worse, it destabilizes family dynamics: the named child becomes a co‑owner with control leverage over whether to sell or borrow. A better approach is to keep ownership where it belongs and use a revocable living trust or, at minimum, a transfer‑on‑death deed if your state offers one and your facts are simple.

TOD deeds and why they’re still not the whole solution

Some states allow transfer‑on‑death (TOD) or beneficiary deeds for real estate. These pass the property at death without probate and without creating a present co‑ownership. They’re useful when you have a single property, simple beneficiaries, and no need for incapacity continuity. But they do nothing for day‑to‑day management if you become ill, and they don’t coordinate well with spendthrift protections or blended‑family timing (for example, allowing a spouse to live in the home for life and then passing it to children). A living trust handles those nuances cleanly.

Second marriages and the survivorship trap

In a second marriage, joint tenancy can feel fair—“whoever survives, owns.” But if each spouse has children from prior relationships, survivorship concentrates control in the survivor’s hands. The survivor can then change their will, alter beneficiary designations, or remarry again, leaving the first decedent’s children with nothing. Trust‑based planning offers better options: a QTIP‑style trust that provides the survivor housing and income for life but directs the remainder to the first spouse’s children; or separate revocable trusts that keep property lines clear while allowing each spouse to provide for the other in tailored ways.

Incapacity: the gap joint tenancy can’t bridge

Life happens before death. If one joint tenant has a stroke, the other cannot sign their name on loan documents or sale contracts. Banks and title companies will demand either a valid durable power of attorney (which some still scrutinize closely) or trustee authority under a revocable living trust. A trust solves this neatly: the successor trustee steps in with a certificate of trust and acts without court orders, paying bills, managing maintenance, and selling property if needed.

A better path: a funded revocable living trust

A living trust holds title to your home and non‑retirement investments. While you’re well, you are the trustee and act as usual. If you become incapacitated, your successor trustee takes over seamlessly. When you die, the trustee distributes or holds property under the instructions you wrote—support for a spouse, timing for children, spendthrift safeguards where needed—without probate. For couples, you can craft one joint trust or two separate trusts depending on whether assets are mostly shared or largely separate. Either structure can avoid the survivorship trap and preserve family intent.

Converting from joint tenancy to a trust without drama

The transition is procedural, not painful. You create the trust, record a deed to trust moving the home into it, and update homeowner’s insurance and the mortgage servicer with a certificate of trust. You retitle your brokerage account to the trust or open a new trust account and transfer positions. You assign untitled personal property and coordinate beneficiary designations for life insurance and retirement accounts. Daily life doesn’t change; your signature block changes to “Trustee” for trust‑titled assets. The payoff is continuity and control.

What about basis and property taxes?

Transferring a primary residence to your revocable trust typically preserves your homestead and property‑tax treatment because you still occupy and control the property. For basis, revocable‑trust property is generally included in your taxable estate and receives a step‑up at death like personally titled property. In community‑property states, a properly titled community‑property trust can offer additional basis benefits. The key is that revocability maintains your tax posture; joint tenancy does not improve it and can sometimes complicate it.

A simple decision tree

If your goal is a one‑time probate bypass and you have a single property with a single heir, a TOD deed can work. If you want incapacity planning, two‑phase distribution (for example, support a spouse, then pass to children), or blended‑family clarity, a revocable living trust is the right tool. Joint tenancy helps at the first death and only there; it does not write the second chapter.

Your plan should handle illness, honor both spouses’ intentions, and keep administration private and predictable. Joint tenancy checks one box. A funded trust checks them all.

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