In North Carolina the Division of Motor Vehicles allows you to include the initials JTWROS (Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship) on your title following the names of both owners. This clarifies that ownership transfers 100% to the surviving partner on a joint title, avoiding a long process with probate.
Lastly, tenancy-in-common is an ownership for non-spouses where, unlike joint tenancy, when one co-owner dies, their share passes via their Will or the North Carolina Intestate Succession Act. How do clients find themselves as co-owners of real estate?
If multiple people hold title under tenancy in common, this means that each individual can choose to sell their ownership interests in the property at any time. Unlike with joint tenancy, a tenancy in common agreement allows for multiple owners to own different percentages of the entire property.
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.
Tenants in common gives you more protections and you can specify in a deed of trust what you would want to happen in the event of relationship breakdown (eg if one of you has first dibs to buy the other out, or a time limit on doing so etc) which is definitely better to decide now whilst you still like each other!
(a) The interests of joint tenants in a joint tenancy with right of survivorship shall be deemed to be equal unless otherwise provided in the instrument of conveyance.
Joint tenancy property passes to the surviving joint tenant and no one else, no matter what you do. If it is your intent to leave your property to your spouse and then to your children, joint tenancy is not for you.
Joint tenancy is a relatively common type of property ownership. It has a lot of potential advantages. Indeed, most married couples who own a home in Union County, North Carolina own their property with a joint tenancy with a right of survivorship.
North Carolina recognizes joint tenancy with right of survivorship as a common form of joint ownership for non-spouses.