{"id":442,"date":"2021-03-02T00:45:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T00:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?p=442"},"modified":"2021-02-28T14:10:22","modified_gmt":"2021-02-28T14:10:22","slug":"the-groundwork-for-your-estate-plan-your-property-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?p=442","title":{"rendered":"The Groundwork for Your Estate Plan – Your Property – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The groundwork you lay for your estate planning covers the primary concerns of any estate plan. This includes identifying what property you own and those to whom you wish to leave your property. You can\u2019t leave property that you don\u2019t own. This article will take a look at ownership rules for those who are single, unmarried couples and married couples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

If you are single, ownership rules tend to be simple. Except as dictated by a contract, such as an operating agreement for a limited liability company, partnership agreement, or other form of shared ownership, you can leave property you own outright.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unmarried Couples<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Each person in an unmarried couple owns his or her own property unless they agree to share ownership of particular property. Often, an agreement to own property together must be in writing to be enforceable. Some states recognize an oral agreement if it can be proven, which is difficult. As they say, an oral agreement is about as good as the paper it\u2019s written on. It\u2019s always best for unmarried couples to put property sharing agreements in writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If each person in an unmarried couple kept their property separate, each party is free to give their property to whomever they choose. Please note, it\u2019s a good idea to list each person\u2019s separate property in a written agreement as well.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

If the ownership interest is shared, either as a tenancy in common, with a written contract, or partnership, you are only able to dispose of your share only, unless the partnership agreement or contract states otherwise. If property is held by a joint tenancy, it automatically goes to the survivor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Married Couples<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

For property acquired during marriage, there may be ownership rules that place restrictions on your right to leave property. It depends on the state in which you reside. Nine states are \u201ccommunity property\u201d states where the spouses equally own most of the property obtained during marriage. The other states follow the \u201ccommon law\u201d system. Within the common law system, generally, the property owner is the individual whose name appears on the document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In common law states, typically there are laws that limit the ability of one spouse to disinherit the other. Therefore, regardless of what the deceased spouse intended, the surviving spouse has a legal right to receive a specified portion of the deceased spouse\u2019s property. If one spouse plans on leaving the other spouse more than half of his\/her property, these laws shouldn\u2019t affect them.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Now that you understand what your property consists of, our next article will take a closer look at your assets, liabilities, and net worth. This will provide a clearer picture of what property is in your estate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are a resident of Colorado or Florida, feel free to reach out to me. Both Colorado and Florida are common law states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(c) 2021 Karen Van Den Heuvel Fischer<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The groundwork you lay for your estate planning covers the primary concerns of any estate plan. This includes identifying what property you own and those to whom you wish to leave your property. You can\u2019t leave property that you don\u2019t own. This article will take a look at ownership rules for those who are single, unmarried couples and married couples. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[40,31,37,39,20,41,43,48,42,44,38,17,45,28,46,47],"class_list":["post-442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-estate-planning","tag-assets","tag-colorado","tag-common-law-states","tag-community-property-states","tag-estate-planning","tag-florida","tag-joint-tenants","tag-lawyer","tag-liabilities","tag-married-couples","tag-property","tag-real-estate","tag-single","tag-taxes","tag-tenants-in-common","tag-unmarried-couples"],"gutentor_comment":0,"yoast_head":"\nThe Groundwork for Your Estate Plan - Your Property - Part 1 - The Law Firm of Karen VDH Fischer LLC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Start laying the groundwork for your estate plan by identifying the property you own and those you wish to leave it to.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?p=442\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Groundwork for Your Estate Plan - Your Property - Part 1 - The Law Firm of Karen VDH Fischer LLC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Start laying the groundwork for your estate plan by identifying the property you own and those you wish to leave it to.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?p=442\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Law Firm of Karen VDH Fischer LLC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-02T00:45:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kvfischerlaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Photo-Bus-Ins.jpg?fit=640%2C450&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Karen Van Den Heuvel Fischer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Karen Van Den Heuvel Fischer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/?p=442#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/?p=442\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Karen Van Den Heuvel Fischer\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d93838d166344087a8a47d4c1106208d\"},\"headline\":\"The Groundwork for Your Estate Plan – Your Property – Part 1\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-02T00:45:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/?p=442\"},\"wordCount\":498,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/?p=442#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Photo-Bus-Ins.jpg?fit=640%2C450&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"assets\",\"Colorado\",\"common law states\",\"community property states\",\"estate planning\",\"Florida\",\"joint tenants\",\"lawyer\",\"liabilities\",\"married couples\",\"property\",\"real estate\",\"single\",\"taxes\",\"tenants in common\",\"unmarried couples\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Estate Planning\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/?p=442#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/?p=442\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/?p=442\",\"name\":\"The Groundwork for Your Estate Plan - Your Property - Part 1 - The Law Firm of Karen VDH Fischer LLC\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/?p=442#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/?p=442#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Photo-Bus-Ins.jpg?fit=640%2C450&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-02T00:45:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d93838d166344087a8a47d4c1106208d\"},\"description\":\"Start laying the groundwork for your estate plan by identifying the property you own and those you wish to leave it to.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/?p=442#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/?p=442\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/?p=442#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Photo-Bus-Ins.jpg?fit=640%2C450&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Photo-Bus-Ins.jpg?fit=640%2C450&ssl=1\",\"width\":640,\"height\":450},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/?p=442#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Groundwork for Your Estate Plan – Your Property – Part 1\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Law Firm of Karen VDH Fischer LLC\",\"description\":\"A trusted, client-centered law firm focused on strategic solutions.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d93838d166344087a8a47d4c1106208d\",\"name\":\"Karen Van Den Heuvel Fischer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/eb0cb07c7f39f675cf9d13bb2f1c901a0450b29161dcbae4f1eae0b62f66303d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/eb0cb07c7f39f675cf9d13bb2f1c901a0450b29161dcbae4f1eae0b62f66303d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/eb0cb07c7f39f675cf9d13bb2f1c901a0450b29161dcbae4f1eae0b62f66303d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Karen Van Den Heuvel Fischer\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kvfischerlaw.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Groundwork for Your Estate Plan - Your Property - Part 1 - The Law Firm of Karen VDH Fischer LLC","description":"Start laying the groundwork for your estate plan by identifying the property you own and those you wish to leave it to.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?p=442","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Groundwork for Your Estate Plan - Your Property - Part 1 - The Law Firm of Karen VDH Fischer LLC","og_description":"Start laying the groundwork for your estate plan by identifying the property you own and those you wish to leave it to.","og_url":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?p=442","og_site_name":"The Law Firm of Karen VDH Fischer LLC","article_published_time":"2021-03-02T00:45:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":450,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kvfischerlaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Photo-Bus-Ins.jpg?fit=640%2C450&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Karen Van Den Heuvel Fischer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Karen Van Den Heuvel Fischer","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?p=442#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?p=442"},"author":{"name":"Karen Van Den Heuvel Fischer","@id":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d93838d166344087a8a47d4c1106208d"},"headline":"The Groundwork for Your Estate Plan – Your Property – Part 1","datePublished":"2021-03-02T00:45:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?p=442"},"wordCount":498,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?p=442#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kvfischerlaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Photo-Bus-Ins.jpg?fit=640%2C450&ssl=1","keywords":["assets","Colorado","common law states","community property states","estate planning","Florida","joint tenants","lawyer","liabilities","married couples","property","real estate","single","taxes","tenants in common","unmarried couples"],"articleSection":["Estate Planning"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?p=442#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?p=442","url":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?p=442","name":"The Groundwork for Your Estate Plan - Your Property - Part 1 - The Law Firm of Karen VDH Fischer LLC","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?p=442#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?p=442#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kvfischerlaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Photo-Bus-Ins.jpg?fit=640%2C450&ssl=1","datePublished":"2021-03-02T00:45:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d93838d166344087a8a47d4c1106208d"},"description":"Start laying the groundwork for your estate plan by identifying the property you own and those you wish to leave it to.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?p=442#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?p=442"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?p=442#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kvfischerlaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Photo-Bus-Ins.jpg?fit=640%2C450&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kvfischerlaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Photo-Bus-Ins.jpg?fit=640%2C450&ssl=1","width":640,"height":450},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?p=442#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Groundwork for Your Estate Plan – Your Property – Part 1"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/","name":"The Law Firm of Karen VDH Fischer LLC","description":"A trusted, client-centered law firm focused on strategic solutions.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d93838d166344087a8a47d4c1106208d","name":"Karen Van Den Heuvel Fischer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eb0cb07c7f39f675cf9d13bb2f1c901a0450b29161dcbae4f1eae0b62f66303d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eb0cb07c7f39f675cf9d13bb2f1c901a0450b29161dcbae4f1eae0b62f66303d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eb0cb07c7f39f675cf9d13bb2f1c901a0450b29161dcbae4f1eae0b62f66303d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Karen Van Den Heuvel Fischer"},"url":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kvfischerlaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Photo-Bus-Ins.jpg?fit=640%2C450&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=442"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":468,"href":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442\/revisions\/468"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kvfischerlaw.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}