The other manner of holding the title to property in Georgia is as joint tenants with rights of survivorship. This method is similar to tenancy by the entirety, which is common in many states as the default for married couples purchasing property.
Joint Ownership When one of those parties dies, their share of the property passes to the surviving owner(s). The property does not pass through probate. Joint Ownership with Rights of Survivorship takes precedence over any other potential claims on the property.
Joint tenancy supersedes the terms of a will if one of the tenants changes his mind. If you pass away, you cannot transfer your property shares to your heirs. In the JTWROS meaning, when a co-owner dies, his share of the home passes immediately to the surviving co-owners.
If there are two or more surviving parties, the respective ownership of each during his lifetime shall be in proportion to his previous ownership interests under Code Section 7-1-812, augmented by an equal share for each survivor of any interest the decedent may have owned in the account immediately before his death; ...
(3) Any instrument of title using one of the forms of expression referred to in paragraph (2) of this subsection or language essentially the same as one of these forms of expression shall create a joint tenancy estate or interest that may be severed as to the interest of any owner by the recording of an instrument ...
Joint tenancy is a type of joint ownership of property in the field of property law , where each owner has an undivided interest in the property. This type of ownership creates a right of survivorship , which means that when one owner dies, the other owners absorb the deceased owner's interest .
Unlike Joint Tenancy with Rights of Survivorship, there is no right of survivorship in Tenancy in Common. If one owner dies, their share of the property is passed to their heirs through their Will or through the Georgia laws of intestacy, rather than automatically transferring to the surviving owner(s).
For example, if two unmarried partners make equal contributions toward purchasing a inium and they choose to hold title as joint tenants, the surviving joint tenant will automatically become the sole and separate owner of the inium after the first joint tenant dies.