Joint Owner: Many assets can have a joint owner, for example bank accounts, investment accounts and real estate can all have joint owners. Assets owned jointly transfer automatically and do not pass through the probate process and will bypass the terms of a will. If an asset has a joint owner listed then the asset automatically transfers to the joint owner at the death of the first owner. Real estate is owned jointly if it is owned “jointly”, “jointly with rights of survivorship” or as “tenants by the entirety”. However, if real estate is owned as “tenants in common” the property does NOT automatically pass to the other tenant in common listed on the dead.