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Massachusetts Estate Planning Lawyer Thomas Swain Smith explains the benefit of transferring real estate to your Revocable Living Trust:
In order for you to take advantage of the probate-avoiding power of your Living Trust, you need to place your most valuable property, like real estate in the trust.
If you own real estate jointly with a right of survivorship, with another person, such as a spouse, you do not need to transfer it into the trust in order to avoid probate. This property will go directly to the co-owner when you die. This is non-probate property.
There are still good reasons to put this property into your trust, however. For instance, if you and your spouse pass away at the same time, such as in a car accident, and the property is held jointly instead of in your trust, this property will have to pass through probate and will be controlled your last will and testament.
