In order to sell or convey the entire property, all owners must join in the transfer. As tenants in common, the co-owners have the right to sell, gift, or transfer their interest in the property without the other owners' permission.
Joint Tenancy In Illinois A joint tenancy can be undone by either spouse if they convey any portion of their share to a third party. Neither spouse will need the permission of the other spouse to make this conveyance and revert the property to a tenancy in common.
Unlike joint tenancy, where each owner has an equal share, tenancy in common allows for specific parts or percentages of the property to be owned by each tenant. This type of ownership is often seen in situations where family members or business partners want to maintain separate shares.
Further tenancy in common allows parties to hold unequal shares of property interest. Joint tenancy requires each co-owner to hold equal shares of property. Further, co-owners must transfer the deed at the same time. In this sense, joint tenancy is rigid compared to tenancy in common.
Some states, such as Illinois, presume that if property owned by two or more individuals is not clearly titled (such as without mention of a survivorship provision - see joint ownership with survivorship below), it is owned in tenancy in common.
In general, joint assets are held in joint tenancy (with right of survivorship) or tenancy in common. A joint tenancy (with right of survivorship) is a form of ownership by 2 or more persons in which each person owns the whole asset. Real property held in joint tenancy is usually identified as such on the deed.
A joint tenancy is one method of owning real estate in Illinois that gives multiple owners equal shares in the property. The key feature of a joint tenancy is that each owner (called a joint tenant) has a right of survivorship.
One of the rights of a joint tenant in real property is to sever the tenancy by conveyance of his interest, in which event, the grantee becomes a cotenant with the remaining joint tenant, and the chief attribute of joint tenancy, viz, the survivor's right to take to the en- tire interest, is hereby destroyed.