Changing joint tenancy deed for house after death of co-owner

Family Member lost their partner recently.  They were not legally married.   I do know that the deed (New Jersey) was the type that the surviving person gets 100% of the property without going through probate, I believe the wording was Joint Tenancy, though I don't have a copy of the deed in front of me at this moment.  Looking up how to handle this, they're apparently supposed to go to Newark Hall of Records, show the death certificate, and the deed is reissued in Family Member's name.  This is supposed to be simple and straight forward, no attorney needed, property is not part of the estate, etc.  

So Family Member goes to the hall of records with the death certificate, and is told first that the administrator of the will needs to be the one taking care of this, and after explaining, repeatedly, that the deed is joint tenancy and doesn't go to the estate, the clerk says that Family Member doesn't need to worry about changing the deed until they eventually sell.

Has anyone else had a joint tenancy deed while not married and had it successfully re-deeded after the death of the other owner?  What steps does Family Member need to take?  Should they just try again and hope next time they get a clerk who knows how to do this?  Since this type of deed supposedly bypasses probate the clerk telling Family Member that she needs to have the administrator of the estate take care of this seems bogus.  And the other family member who is the administrator is actually trying to keep the estate out of probate since it is such a pain in the ***, so that person doesn't have any paperwork from the courts showing them to be the administrator anyway.

Why the attempt to keep the estate out of probate?  Everything needed to settle the estate will require Letters Testamentary.

joan_crystal said:

Why the attempt to keep the estate out of probate?  Everything needed to settle the estate will require Letters Testamentary.

I’m not sure, I’ve never been an administrator for an estate before.

My question is in regards to the Family Member who is trying to change the deed.  It just seems like they got the run around and it is understanding that this type of change does not need a will
 

I may not have been clear, Family Member who has the deed is not the same one named executor/administrator on the will.  Two different people.  I just know that the person in charge of the will is trying to avoid probate so asking them to process the deed is not an option, the only reason I mention them

My understanding was that by setting up a deed as joint tenancy would bypass probate so it shouldn’t even been an issue.  I’m thinking it is more along the lines of the clerk not understanding the difference between Joint Tenancy and Tenancy in Common.  For the latter then yes, the deceased’s portion of the property would go through the estate.  For the former, supposedly the surviving owner merely has to provide legal proof that the second owner has passed on and the deed should be reissued in the survivor’s name.

Having been to the clerk’s office twice, both times I ran into employees who had no clue what they were doing, so Family Member’s experience doesn’t surprise me.  I’m just curious of how others who had joint tenancy deeds dealt with the reissue of the deed upon the death of the co-owner.  Do we just keep going back until we find an employee who understands how to do this?  Do we ask for a supervisor?  Do we have to spend money on a lawyer?  The clerk’s second suggestion of just leaving it as is until the property is eventually sold does not seem right.  Having a deceased person listed as a CURRENT owner on the deed for years, or potentially decades depending on the Family Member’s health and circumstances, just seems like it is not the proper way to handle this.  

I believe there is a form affidavit you have to file along with the death certificate to get the new deed.  Should not be a big deal.  If the original deed properly established the joint tenancy, the survivor becomes the sole owner.  Should not have to deal with the probate process.  I don't have the affidavit but should not be hard to find.

bub said:

I believe there is a form affidavit you have to file along with the death certificate to get the new deed.  Should not be a big deal.  If the original deed properly established the joint tenancy, the survivor becomes the sole owner.  Should not have to deal with the probate process.  I don't have the affidavit but should not be hard to find.

 Thank you so much for your help.  I am looking that up now.

Personally, I went to the clerk's office twice and had issues both times, so Family Member's experience does not surprise me.

First time, my old Maplewood property had a right of way deeded onto a neighbor's property.  I needed a copy of this right of way.  Went to the clerk's office, they couldn't find it and said "there is none."  Not having a right of way to access my own back yard without going through the house (think maintenance, construction vehicles, etc) was going to seriously drop the value of my home.  And I KNEW there was one.  The title searchers there took pity on us and helped us find the right of way (title searchers are awesome, by the way, they've helped me more than a few times).

Second time we were in the process of selling my home.  My lawyer needed a copy of my current deed.  I went to the clerk's office, gave her all the information.  My name, address, everything.  She wanted to see my driver's license to show I had a right to get a copy of the deed (even though these are public records), etc.  She then prints out and hands me a copy of my NEIGHBOR'S deed.    Since the public did have access to the self serve terminals, after she walked off I then used the terminal to input the correct information and printed out MY deed that my lawyer needed.

So I wasn't surprised when Family Member said they had issues down there.  

joan_crystal said:

Why the attempt to keep the estate out of probate?  Everything needed to settle the estate will require Letters Testamentary.

I believe that "Joint tenancy with right of survivorship" is often set up so that the joint owner will immediately have full ownership and not be in any kind of limbo during the probate period and there will be no question about the subsequent ownership.  This is frequently done for homes or some other assets where the person setting up their estate plans wants to provide for that person quickly, especially if it is a person who shares a home with them.  I'm sure that there are other estate planning reasons to do this.  It is definitely not uncommon.

Conceptually, the joint tenant does become the sole owner immediately but it needs to be papered/recorded properly so you can do things like sell the property.  That's why you have to go down there and file these papers.

bub said:

Conceptually, the joint tenant does become the sole owner immediately but it needs to be papered/recorded properly so you can do things like sell the property.  That's why you have to go down there and file these papers.

 Exactly... I was beginning to respond to this and realized that a new, replacement deed would have to be prepared and presented to the registrar for filing, along with the death certificate.