How to hold title to a Long Island home
The deed says who owns the house. It also says what happens when one owner dies, divorces, gets sued, or wants out. Most buyers never read that line. This page explains the six ways New York lets you hold title, in plain words, so you walk into the attorney's office knowing what to ask for.
Why the line on the deed matters
Two couples buy the same kind of house on the same street. Ten years later one owner in each couple dies. In the first house the survivor owns the whole home the next morning, no court, no delay. In the second house half the home sits in probate for a year because the deed said tenants in common. Same house, same street, different line on the deed.
The attorney drafts that line. The lender does not care about it. The title company records whatever is written. So the choice is yours, and it costs nothing extra to get it right on the day you close. Changing it later means a new deed, recording fees, and sometimes a tax question.
This page comes from a real estate agent, not an attorney and not an accountant. It explains the choices so you can ask the right questions. Your attorney decides the wording on your deed, and your CPA runs the tax side. Nothing here is legal, tax, or estate advice.
The six ways, cons first
1. Sole ownership
One name on the deed. Simple, and the whole home passes through your will or, with no will, by New York's intestacy rules, which means probate. A spouse who is not on the deed still has rights in a divorce and at death, so sole ownership does not keep a house out of a marriage. It is the usual choice for a single buyer and for an inherited home.
2. Tenants in common
Two or more owners, each with a separate share. The shares can be unequal, 70 and 30 for example. When one owner dies, that share goes to their heirs, not to the other owner. That is the cost: the surviving owner can end up sharing the house with a stranger or an estate. It is also the New York default. When a deed to two unmarried people says nothing, the law reads it as tenants in common. Friends, siblings, and partners who are not married usually land here, and a written agreement between them matters more than the deed.
3. Joint tenants with right of survivorship
Two or more owners with equal shares, and the survivor takes the whole house automatically when one dies, outside probate. The deed must say the words, or New York treats it as tenants in common. The cons: shares must be equal, one owner can break the arrangement by selling or deeding their share without the other's consent, and a creditor of one owner can reach that owner's share. Unmarried partners who want the survivor protected often choose this.
4. Tenants by the entirety
Married couples only. When a deed goes to two people who are married to each other, New York makes this the default. The survivor takes the whole house with no probate. Neither spouse can sell or mortgage the home alone, and a creditor of one spouse alone cannot force a sale while the marriage lasts, which is a real shield. The cons: a divorce turns it into tenants in common, and a judgment against both spouses still reaches the house. Most Long Island married buyers are here whether they know it or not.
5. A revocable living trust
You deed the house to a trust you control. You stay the trustee, you live there, you can sell or refinance, and you can undo it. At death the house passes to the people named in the trust with no probate and no public court file. The cons: an attorney drafts it, so it costs more up front; every later refinance or sale needs the trust papers in hand; and the trust does not protect the house from your own creditors or from a nursing home bill, because you still control it. Transferring a home you already own into your own revocable trust is normally not a taxable sale, and New York lets the STAR exemption follow a trust when the beneficiary lives in the home, but your attorney confirms both on your deed. Families with a second property, a blended family, or an out of state heir use this most.
6. An LLC
A limited liability company owns the house and you own the company. This is for investment property, not the home you live in. The point is the wall: a tenant's lawsuit reaches the LLC's property, not your own home. The cons are real. A conventional home loan is written to a person, so most lenders will not lend to an LLC and some call the loan due if you deed a financed home into one. Moving a property you already own into an LLC can be a taxable transfer when a mortgage comes with it. And since 2019 New York requires an LLC buying or selling a one to four family home to disclose every member's name and address on the transfer tax form, so the privacy people expect is gone. Investors buying with cash or commercial financing use it. Owner occupants almost never should.
Side by side
| How you hold it | When one owner dies | Probate | Who it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sole owner | Passes by will or intestacy | Yes | One buyer |
| Tenants in common | That share goes to heirs | Yes, for the share | Unmarried co owners with unequal money in |
| Joint tenants | Survivor takes all | No | Unmarried partners who want survivorship |
| Tenants by the entirety | Surviving spouse takes all | No | Married couples, the New York default |
| Revocable trust | Passes to named people | No | Estate planning, privacy, out of state heirs |
| LLC | Company interest passes by will or operating agreement | Depends on the papers | Investment property only |
Five questions to bring to the attorney
- If one of us dies, do I want the house to pass to the other owner automatically, or to my own heirs?
- Are we putting in unequal money, and should the deed or a side agreement say so?
- Is anyone in the family likely to be sued or to carry business debt?
- Do we already have a trust, and should this house go into it on closing day instead of later?
- Is this the home we live in, or an investment? The answer rules the LLC question out or in.
Ask them before the contract is signed. The deed is drafted from the contract, and changing title after closing means a second deed and a second trip to the County Clerk.
Common questions
What is the default way married couples hold title in New York
Tenants by the entirety. When a deed names two people who are married to each other and says nothing else, New York treats them as tenants by the entirety. The survivor takes the whole home without probate.
Can I add my child to the deed to avoid probate
You can, and attorneys often advise against it. A gift of part of the house can carry a gift tax filing, exposes the home to the child's creditors and divorce, and gives up the step up in basis the child would get by inheriting instead. A revocable trust usually does the job with none of those costs. Ask the attorney before signing anything.
Does putting my house in a trust change my mortgage or my STAR exemption
A transfer into your own revocable trust is treated as a change in form, not a sale, so the mortgage normally stays as it is; most lenders ask for notice and the trust papers. The STAR exemption can continue when the trust beneficiary lives in the home. Confirm both with your attorney and the town assessor.
Should I buy my home in an LLC for privacy
For a home you live in, usually no. Conventional lenders write loans to people, not companies, and New York now requires an LLC buying a one to four family home to list every member on the transfer tax form, so the privacy is limited. The LLC is a tool for investment property.
What happens to joint tenancy in a divorce
Tenants by the entirety becomes tenants in common when the marriage ends. The divorce judgment or settlement decides who keeps the house or how the sale proceeds split. That is a question for the matrimonial attorney, not the deed.
Where this comes from, and what it is not
New York Estates, Powers and Trusts Law 6-2.2 (the default forms of co ownership), New York Tax Law 1409 as amended in 2019 (LLC member disclosure on one to four family transfers), the New York State STAR program rules on trusts, and IRS Publication 523 on the home sale exclusion, read October 2026. Laws change; your attorney reads the current text on your closing date. This page is not legal, tax, or estate advice and no attorney client relationship is formed by reading it.