what do the letters JTWSR mean when they are on records of mortgages & quit claim deeds ?
upon search of recorded county records I keep seeing JTWSR next to the names…what does this mean ? & in state of michigan, if a poa is not registered, is it still legal ?
ask that those who answer please tell how they know answers & Great Scott…are poa’s still legal etc “if recieving party admits to intentional tactics to obtain all assets from dying party ? & knew they were frauding state & hiding assets from state.?
joint tenants with survivorship rights.
Meaning you both own and if one dies, the other receives it 100%
Joint Tennants With Suvivirship Rights. – JTWSR
That means if someone on the title of the property passes away the other party receives their share in the property uncontested.
Joint Title With Right Of Survivorship. Usually only applied to married couples, it means if one dies the property passes to the other spouse as a matter of law, outside the probate process and regardless of what the will might say.
Many states will allow that term on car titles also.
A POA is legal if it’s in writing and doesn’t have to be registered.
joint tennants with survivorship rights
The abbreviation refers to Joint with Rights of Survivorship. There is a general rule which applies in 49 states and then a unique rule for the state of Michigan.
Generally speaking Joint ownership means that the two or more parties each have an undivided interest in the property and both need to sign to sell or otherwise convey.
In addition, the property automatically passes to the survivor on death.
It’s a simple thing to do but there are a few cautions. When you create a joint tenancy then you lose control because you need agreement of both to act. You also may have some exposure to liability of either party with regard to the property. Also, if you own the property then convey to you and someone else jointly then you may create a gift.
The wrinkle with Michigan is in the language. If it say ‘A & B as joint tenants’ then you have a standard joint tenancy as described above. However in Michigan when you add the survivorship language to a deed for real property then you get ‘joint life estates with inseverable remainders’. The difference seems pretty minor and most of the time works like joint tenancy but the fact that you can not sever the remainder interest can cause some title difficulties in some instances. This is a minority position which resulted from a Michigan court case. To my knowledge no other state has interpreted survivorship language in this way.
With regard to the Power of Attorney it is valid with out recording for most purposes. It only needs to be recorded if you are using it to convey real property. If real estate is involved then you need to record it to show proper chain of title when the title work is done. The power is valid without recording but there is no way to verify the signatures on the deeds or other documents without it being recorded with the Register of Deeds.
The fraud issue changes things a bit. Fraud is almost always a reason to undo transactions but you’ll need to prove it and it requires a court order where transfers have already happened. If you have fraud issues then you headed to court and it’s time to find a good lawyer.