Physician Real Estate Ownership

The ownership of real estate is a vital issue for Physicians because real estate in your personal name may result in a lawsuit that threatens you and your family's financial future.

There are several ways to own real estate in Cook County, Illinois. The first and most common method for married Physicians is tenants in common, which is a joint form of ownership where upon your spouse's death, the surviving spouse inherits the house. From an asset protection standpoint, this is extremely problematic because a lawsuit or judgment against one party may result in forfeiture of your home. This is a problem because a husband or wife or partner may face problems, which threaten the other's legal title to the real estate.

The second method of real estate ownership in Chicago is tenancy by entirety, which is for married couples. The downside to this real estate ownership is upon one spouse's death, the surviving spouse does not inherit the remaining interest in their house. Tenancy by entirety is the most common method of real estate ownership when estate planning attorney's title a home. Tenancy by entirety is solely for your primary residence, which means that you and your spouse reside at this address. Tenancy by entirety is popular among estate planning attorney's because one spouse's lawsuit or malpractice case does not affect the other spouse unless both spouses are involved in the lawsuit. The downside to this form of real estate ownership is liens and judgments still may attach as a lien against your home like your mortgage. Unlike a mortgage, tenancy by entirety ownership prevents liens from being foreclosed if it only involves one spouse that got a judgment. With tenancy by entirety, it is important to have a proper estate plan because the surviving spouse does not automatically inherit their home.

The third way of owning real estate is a Private Land Trust. I personally love to structure real estate as tenancy by entirety that is owned by a Private Land Trust. The advance of this approach is the weakness of tenancy by entirety is liens may be placed against the title, which encumbers the legal title of your real estate. A Private Land Trust solves this problem because liens and judgments do not attach to Private Land Trust in Illinois.

In conclusion, Sean Robertson is an Asset and Estate Planning Attorney in downtown Chicago that counsels his Physician and Dentists clients on their customized estate and asset protectiong goals. Unfortunately, insurance is insufficient to provide adequate asset protection because often times a litigation need that arises that insurance does not cover or you are inadequately insured.

Sean Robertson is a graudate of DePaul University College of Law and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Sean Robertson may be reached at (312) 498-6080 or Sean@RobertsonLawGroup.com.