Joint-owned property is any property that's held in the name of two or more parties. They can be business partners or any other combination of people who have a reason to own property together. The matrimonial status of joint ownership of assets occurs when the two parties are spouses.
For example, business partners and unrelated people who own property together often decide to own the property as Tenants-in-Common. Joint Tenancy is the other form of combined ownership, whereby all of the registered owners own the entire property together at the same time.
A joint owner or co-owner means that both owners have the same access to the account. As an owner of the account, both co-owners can deposit, withdraw, or close the account. You most likely want to reserve this for someone with whom you already have a financial relationship, such as a family member.
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.
2. Joint tenancy with rights of survivorship (JTWROS) Type of owner: married couplesThe most common form of property ownership for married couples is joint tenancy with rights of survivorship, which awards both parties undivided ownership.
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 .
Historically, the common law required that in order for a joint tenancy to be created, the co-owners must share the “four unities” of (1) time – the property interest must be acquired by both tenants at the same time; (2) title - both tenants must have the same title to the property in the deed; (3) interest - both ...
This means that all co-owners have the same percentage of ownership. For example, in a joint tenancy with two individuals, each joint tenant would have a 50% interest. In a joint tenancy with three individuals, each joint tenant would have a 33.33% interest, and so on.
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.
Joint tenancy is most common among married couples because it helps property owners avoid probate. Without joint tenancy, a spouse would have to wait for their partner's Last Will to go through a legal review process—which can take months or even years.