What is the difference between Joint Tenants and Tenants In Common?

Although “joint tenants” and “tenant in common” sound familiar and they refer to varieties of how you can hold title together, they do not mean the same thing. Joint tenants refer to equal interest on the property on the same property deed. Joint tenant agreement is broken when a person sells his or her own interest in another thing. There is a right of survivorship in joint tenants.

This means in the case of death of a party, the shares of the decedent party is transferred to the co-tenant. The surviving tenant gets the property. Tenant in common refers to the equal or different percentage, for instance, a 70 percent interest and 30 percent interest. There is no right of survivorship in the tenancy of common. In the case of the death of a party, the right of that party is transferred to the heir of the decedent tenant.

Joint tenants and tenancy in common may seem similar to each other, but these are actually different. Tenants in common are two people who own the same property. This means that if one of them dies, the shares of the tenant will be passed on to other family members of the tenant.

This can be ideal for those who own businesses. The shares of one tenant will be passed on to the family members so that they can continue the business. Joint tenancy means that there will be equal shares of the property split between two people. If one of the tenants dies, the shares of the property will be passed on to the other tenant.

There are some people who are not sure about the difference between joint tenancy and tenancy in common. These two are classifications of ownership in a property. Joint tenancy means that everyone who is listed on the home title is interested in the property. For example, a married couple will have joint tenancy over a property that they have purchased.

This means that their share of the house is equal. If in case the married couple decides to divorce, they may sell half of their property to the other person. The tenancy is common in the situation wherein there is ownership to both properties for an undisclosed period of time. There are times when they may not have equal shares of the property.

Joint tenancy and tenants in common are said to be available options to those who may own properties. Joint tenancy means that those who own the property will have an equal interest in the property. A couple will have this type of tenancy because they own the property 50-50. If in case the couple would decide to divorce, one person may decide to sell half of his/her property.

Tenancy in common is the ownership of people, but there are not available percentages. There are instances when the parts will be equal, and there are also times when the parts will not be equal. There are differences in rules between the two, especially if one of the partners dies.