By now it should be clear that estate planning is concerned largely with the planned transfer of personal property. Coverage up to now has focused on defining what constitutes property and how it is valued. In this section, attention turns to another important question regarding estate property, namely, who owns it and how does one transfer ownership?

This question is more involved than it might first appear. For one thing, correctly matching property to its owner(s) is a key step in valuing an estate. For another, the question of ownership is not always neat and easy. For example, it is not enough that a couple knows the value of their property. To take full advantage of the marital deduction requires that they know which property is owned by which spouse individually, and which is owned jointly. Are any assets considered to be community property? It is very important to identify the nature of joint property ownership to properly analyze your clients' estate plan.

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