For many families, the major asset that gets passed down to future generations is a home. Can you guess what asset most commonly winds up in probate court? You probably got it right: a HOME. Often, it is because people do not know the rule of thumb. The rule of thumb is: if there is property in your name alone with no living beneficiary or joint owner at the time you pass away, it must go through the probate process before it can LEGALLY pass to anyone else. If there is a joint owner, that person must have full rights of survivorship to avoid the probate process. Full rights of survivorship allow the property to pass to the surviving owner automatically upon the death of the deceased owner.

When it comes to real property, "title" is the concept of ownership, and a deed is the document that is used to transfer it. It is common for family members to live for generations in a home and not have legal title to it. This is because it is still sitting in grandmother's name. It is typically business as usual until someone wants to get a loan to get some work done or qualify for a home repair or tax assistance program. Once they find out they cannot qualify for loans or programming, they scramble. They eventually find out that the only way they can get the title to the home in their name is through the probate process. Probate generally refers to the process through which a deceased person's property is distributed. Probate Court is the court that handles the probate process.

Sometimes, this process is straightforward. More times than often, it is not. The most complicated situations arise when people have unwittingly taken action that can impact generations to come. By way of example, we have Hattie. Hattie owns a home on the west side of town. It has been paid off for years. She heard from someone in her bridge club that if she adds one of her children to her "deed," she does not have to worry about them having to go to court if something happens to her. Hattie has four children but trusts her son Bobby the most. She fills out a quit claim deed she had Bobby print off the internet, gets it notarized and takes it downtown to file it. The deed transfers the property from "Hattie Doe" to "Hattie Doe and Bobby Doe." She feels accomplished. In 2015, Bobby unexpectedly dies, leaving behind the wife he recently separated from and three children from his first marriage. Hattie dies a short six months after her son. Neither of them had a Will or any other estate planning documents. This is key because state law will determine who their heirs are -- and those people are legally entitled to receive their property.

Bobby's oldest son Jimmy moves into the home with his children. He pays the taxes and insurance on the home and keeps it in good repair. Years later, Jimmy notices that the roof needs repair. He visits his credit union to start the process to get a home equity line of credit (HELOC) to pay for the work. During the credit union's typical process, they note that title to the property is in the name of "Hattie Doe" and "Bobby Doe." Jimmy shares that his father and grandmother have passed but his grandmother "left the home to his father." He is then told that he will need to go to probate court to get the home in his name. He contacts an attorney who does some additional digging. This is going to be a bit messier than Jimmy expected. Hattie's quit claim

deed did not explicitly give her and Bobby full rights of survivorship. This means that when Bobby died first, Hattie owned half of the home with Bobby's legal heirs. His heirs include the estranged wife and his children. Hattie then died, leaving her interest in the home to her legal heirs. Hattie's legal heirs include Bobby's children and three surviving children. What does all this mean? The "title" to the home essentially sits in two different estates: Bobby's Estate and Hattie's Estate. This means the probate process must be started for both estates to deal with the property. Simply put, there are seven people who now have a claim to this home that Jimmy thought was his. And they are not going away without a fight. What a tangled title! Such a simple action by Hattie, without the benefit of legal counsel, caused an unnecessary probate war.

This is why estate planning is so important. Legal experts exist so that these types of costly and stressful battles can be avoided. Do not leave things to chance. At minimum, consult with an experienced attorney before signing or filing any legal documents!

Attorney Jehan Crump-Gibson is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Great Lakes Legal Group PLLC, where she concentrates her practice in probate and estate planning, business and real estate matters. Great Lakes Legal Group is a growing black-owned law firm serving clients throughout the state of Michigan and in federal courts across the country. Jehan has served as Faculty for the National Business Institute and the Institute of Continuing Legal Education concerning business, probate and estate planning matters. She is a legal analyst with Fox2 Detroit's The Noon and the author of the book A Matter of Life and Death.