ABA Family Legal Guide

Home Ownership

Property Rights and Restrictions

Ownership Options

What's the difference between joint tenants with survivorship and tenants in common?

They have many similarities: two or more people who own a home as joint tenants with survivorship or as tenants in common are each considered the owner of an undivided interest in the whole property. That is, if there are two owners, each is presumed to own half (unless specified otherwise in the deed), but not a specific half such as the north half. If there is a court judgment against one owner, the creditor may wind up owning that person's interest in the house. In some states, an owner may sell his or her interest to someone else, whether the other owner approves or not. Such a sale ends a joint tenancy, so the new owner becomes a tenant in common with the remaining original owner(s). (The arrangement is complex if, say, A, B, and C own a house as joint tenants and A sells her interest to D; in that case, B and C are still joint tenants with respect to two-thirds of the property, but tenants in common with respect to D's third.)

The chief difference between joint tenants and tenants in common is the right of survivorship. If one joint tenant dies, the property automatically belongs to the other owner or owners, avoiding probate. If three people own it and one dies, the two surviving owners each become owners of an undivided one-half interest. But if the owners are tenants in common, the other owners have no rights of survivorship--they would receive the deceased's interest in the property only if it was specified in his or her will or by inheritance.