Over the past few months I’ve been dealing with a number of property related matters. A number of my clients are unclear about the nature of the title they hold in a particular property. When a review is done of their deeds, it’s usually discovered that the property in question is owned as a Joint tenancy.
Clients don’t often know what a Joint tenancy refers to or what it means. Therefore I’m going to use this opportunity to explain very briefly what a joint tenancy is and and what it is not.
What is a Joint Tenancy
A joint tenancy is a special form of ownership where two or more persons own the same property. The individual owners are called joint tenants. They have equal ownership of the entire property. A Joint tenancy creates a Right of Survivorship which provides that if one of the joint tenants dies the property is transferred to the surviving joint tenants.
Special features to note:
Four conditions that are required in order for there to be a formation of a joint tenancy are referred to as the four unities. These four unities are: time, title, interest and possession.
(1) The joint tenants own an undivided interest in the whole property.
(2) The joint tenants’ estates are vested for the same period of time.
(3) The Joint tenants hold the property under the same title.
(4) The joint tenants all enjoy the same rights until one of them dies, then the property is automatically transferred to the remaining joint tenants. If there are only two joint tenants and one dies then the sole surviving joint tenant receives the entire estate.
What a joint tenancy is not….
A joint tenancy is not a tenancy in common where each owner has a distinct separate share, these shares may not be equal. The owners in this instance are called tenants in common, when one tenant in common dies the remaining tenant’s or tenants’ share(s) remain intact. There is no right of survivorship, so the property does NOT automatically pass to the surviving owner(s). The deceased tenant in common’s interest will pass under the terms of his will but if he dies intestate it will be distributed according the the applicable laws of the jurisdiction.
I’ve enclosed the following link to a very interesting judgement which treats with the nature of joint tenancies, tenancies in common as well as the construction of Wills. Happy reading!
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