What is the difference between "joint tenancy in common" and "joint with rights of survivorship"?

Question

What is the difference between the U.S. legal terms "joint tenancy in common" and "joint with rights of survivorship"?

Answer 1

There are three ways in which two or more people may own present possessory interests in the same property: (1) joint tenancy (which includes the right of survivorship); (2) tenancy in common (which does not have the right of survivorship); and (3) tenancy by the entirety (which exists only between husband and wife, and which includes not only survivorship but "indestructibility.") [172]

II. JOINT TENANCY

A. Joint tenancy generally: In a joint tenancy, two or more people own a single, unified interest in real or personal property. [172]

1. General attributes: Here are the most important attributes of a joint tenancy:

a. Survivorship: Each joint tenant has a right of survivorship. That is, if there are two joint tenants, and one dies, the other becomes sole owner of the interest that the two of them had previously held jointly.

b. Possession: Each joint tenant is entitled to occupythe entire premises, subject only to the same right of occupancy by the other tenant(s).

c. Equal shares: Since the joint tenants have identical interests, they must have "equal shares." Thus one joint tenant cannot have a one-fourth interest, say, with the other having a three-fourths interest.

B. Creation: A joint tenancy must be created by a single instrument (deed or will), and must be created in both or all joint tenants at the same time. [173]

1. Language used: Usually, a joint tenancy is created by specific language: "To A and B as joint tenants with right of survivorship."

2. Conveyance by A to A and B: At common law, A (owner of a fee simple) cannot create a joint tenancy between himself and another by conveying "to A and B as joint tenants." But many states, by statute or case law, now permit this result. [174]

C. Severance: There are a number of ways in which a joint tenancy may be severed, i.e., destroyed. Severance normally results in the creation of a tenancy in common. [175]

1. Conveyance by one joint tenant: A joint tenant may convey his interest to a third party. Such a conveyance has the effect of destroying the joint tenancy. [175] (Example: A and B hold Blackacre as joint tenants. A conveys his interest to C. This conveyance destroys the joint tenancy, so that B and C now become tenants in common, not joint tenants.)

a. Three or more joint tenants: If there are three or more original joint tenants, a conveyance by one of them to a stranger will produce a tenancy in common as between the stranger and the remaining original joint tenants, but the joint tenancy will continue as between the original members. (Example: A, B and C hold Blackacre as joint tenants. A conveys his interest to X. Now, X will hold an undivided one-third interest in the property as a tenant in common with B and C. B and C hold a two-thirds interest, but they hold this interest as joint tenants with each other, not as tenants in common. Thus if X dies, his interest goes to his heirs or devisees. But if B dies, his interest goes to C.)

2. Granting of mortgage: Courts are split as to whether the granting of a mortgage by one joint tenant severs the joint tenancy. In so-called "title theory" states, the mortgage is treated as a conveyance, and thus severs the joint tenancy (so that the mortgagee can foreclose on the undivided one-half interest of the mortgagor, but the interest of the other party is not affected). In "lien theory" states, the mortgage does not sever the joint tenancy; in some but not all lien theory states, if the mortgagee dies first, the other joint tenant takes the whole property free and clear of the mortgage. [177]

3. Lease: Most courts seem to hold that a lease issued by one joint tenant does not act as a severance. [178 - 179]

III. TENANCY IN COMMON

A. Tenancy in common: Whereas in a joint tenancy each party has an equal interest in the whole, in a "tenancy in common" each tenant has a separate "undivided" interest. [179]



1. No right of survivorship: The most important difference between the tenancy in common and the joint tenancy is that there is no right of survivorship between tenants in common. Thus each tenant in common can make a testamentary transfer of his interest; if he dies intestate, his interest will pass under the statute of descent. (Example: A and B take title to Blackacre as tenants in common. They have equal shares. A dies, without a will, leaving only one relative, a son, S. Title to Blackacre is now: a one-half undivided interest in S, and a one-half undivided interest in B.) [179 - 180]

2. Unequal shares: Tenants in common may have unequal shares (unlike joint tenants). (Example: A and B may hold as tenants in common, with A holding an "undivided one-quarter interest" and B an "undivided three-quarters interest.") [179]

a. Rebuttable presumption of equality: If the conveyance does not specify the size of the interests, there is a rebuttable presumption that equal shares were intended.

3. Presumption favoring: Most states have a presumption in favor of tenancies in common, rather than joint tenancies, so long as the co-tenants are not husband and wife. But this can be rebutted by clear evidence showing that the parties intended to create a joint tenancy. [180]

4. Heirs: Apart from a conveyance directly creating a tenancy in common, a tenancy in common can result from operation of law, including the intestacy statute: if the intestacy statute specifies that two persons are to take an equal interest as co-heirs, they take as tenants in common. (Example: A, fee simple owner of Blackacre, dies without a will. His sole surviving relatives are a son, S, and a daughter, D. The intestacy statute says that heirs who are children take "equally." S and D will take title to Blackacre as tenants in common, each holding an undivided one-half interest.)

Answer 2

Joint tenants in Common means that 2 parties hold equal rights to title on Real Property (Meaning Real Estate) If you party dies the 50% ownership interst goes to the other party on title.

- Joint Tenents with Rights of Survivorship= means that if one party dies they can leave thier 50% ownership interest to one of thier beneficiary's thier part of the real estate they own doesn't automatically go to the other person on the title to the house

Answer 3

It's tenants in common & joint tenancy. A tenant in common has dispositive rights over their interest where in a joint tenancy, if one of the tenants dies, the property automatically goes to the surviving joint tenant

Answer 4

Joint tenants in common do not inherit the property in the event of one of the tenant's death. It would go to that tenant's heir of his/her choosing or the next of kin. Right of survivorship entitles the joint tenant to the other tenant's portion of the property upon his/her death.

Answer 5

if the person who owns the building you live in dies,,, whoever inherits it will be your new commander in chief,,, king and landlord