As many of you know, on June 26th, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of making same sex marriages legal in the United States.
This piece is not an opinion or political piece taking or choosing a side; but one to explain how the ruling changes how all married people (husband and wife, husband and husband, and wife and wife) can take title in the state of Arizona.
In the state of Arizona there are approximately nine ways one can hold title on real estate in Arizona. Those being:
- COMMUNITY
- PROPERTY*
- COMMUNITY PROPERTY WITH RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP*
- JOINT TENANT WITH RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP*
- TENANTS IN COMMON
- SOLE AND SEPARATE
- CORPORATION
- GENERAL PARTNERSHIP
- LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
- TRUSTEES OF AN ESTATE PLANNING TRUST
With the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, three of these are slightly altered. Community Property, Community Property with the Right of Survivorship and Joint Tenant with Right of Survivorship, which have always mentioned ownership for property as “owned together by a husband and wife.”
In the past, the statutory presumption was that all property acquired was by “husband and wife”. Title companies may not have changed verbiage on their forms. The new verbiage for Community Property, Community Property with Right of Survivorship and Joint Tenant with Right of Survivorship should include verbiage that gives married couples the option to take title with one of the following:
- Married Couple
- Husband and Wife
- Husband and Husband
- Wife and Wife
For more information on how you can take title or how you can change the way you have taken title in any real estate transaction in Arizona, please contact the Arizona Key Team.