Community Property with Right of Survivorship: Definition and How It Works in California

By Eric Ridley, attorney, Ridley Law. Updated September 2026.

Community property with right of survivorship is a way for spouses or registered domestic partners to hold title so the survivor automatically owns the whole property when the other dies, while keeping the tax treatment that applies to community property. The deed has to say so expressly.

How it works in California

See community property with right of survivorship in California for a full comparison with joint tenancy. Civ. Code, § 682.1(a)(1) allows spouses to hold title this way when the transfer document expressly declares the property to be “community property with right of survivorship,” so that it passes to the survivor without a probate administration. The statute’s own text refers to spouses; registered domestic partners get the same treatment under Fam. Code, § 297.5, which extends the rights and obligations of marriage to registered domestic partnerships.

The main advantage over plain joint tenancy is on the tax side, in general terms: community property gets more favorable income tax basis treatment at the first spouse’s death than joint tenancy does, because the property keeps its character as community property even though it also passes automatically the way a joint tenancy interest would.

Why it matters

For example, a married couple buys a rental property and titles it as community property with right of survivorship instead of joint tenancy. When one spouse dies, the property passes to the survivor without probate, the same result joint tenancy would provide, but the surviving spouse may be in a better tax position if she later sells the property, because of how community property basis rules work.

Common mistakes

Assuming a deed automatically gets this treatment just because the owners are married; the transfer document has to expressly declare it. Confusing this form of title with plain joint tenancy, which passes property the same way at death but doesn’t carry community property’s tax treatment. Using this form of title for unmarried co-owners who aren’t registered domestic partners, since they aren’t eligible for it.

Related terms

• Community Property: the underlying property classification this form of title is built on.
• Joint Tenancy: the more common alternative that also avoids probate but without community property’s tax treatment.
• Step-Up in Basis: the tax rule that makes community property’s treatment different from joint tenancy’s.

Part of the California estate planning glossary. For the full treatment, see Community Property With Right of Survivorship in California (Civil Code § 682.1).