Siskinds Law Firm
By John Morrissey
April 16th, 2025
Jackson v. Rosenberg, 2024: An example of how using joint tenancy as an estate planning tool can go wrong
The use of joint tenancy as an estate planning tool—which entails adding a family member to the title of your home as a joint tenant with the intention of that person inheriting the property upon your death—has become increasingly common. However, this estate planning technique is fraught with risk. A perfect example of how using joint tenancy as an estate planning tool can go horribly wrong is highlighted in the recent Court of Appeal decision of Jackson v. Rosenberg…
The circumstances giving rise to this case serves as a cautionary tale for anyone who is considering using joint tenancy as an estate planning tool.
In Jackson, a gentlemen named Nigel added his great niece, Lori, as a joint tenant to the title of his home in Port Hope, Ontario. Importantly, Nigel’s act of adding Lori to the title of his home was entirely gratuitous. That is, Nigel did not require Lori to pay him any money in exchange for her being added to the title of his home.
Nigel added Lori’s name to the title of his home for estate planning purposes.
His intention was for Lori to inherit his interest in the property upon his death, such that she would become the sole owner. Approximately eight (8) years after Lori was added to title, Nigel had a falling out with Lori. Consequently, Nigel’s estate plans changed such that he no longer wanted Lori to inherit his home upon his death.
The issue for Nigel, however, was that Lori’s name remained on title to his home.
Although Nigel was able to reverse/undo his act of adding Lori to title of his Port Hope home, doing so was not without personal hardship to Nigel, all of which was entirely avoidable. Nigel spent three (3) long years in litigation—and likely spent many thousands of dollars in legal fees—to get Lori off title. Jackson is a perfect example of what can go wrong when adding someone to title of your home for estate planning purposes.
