Joint tenants also own an undivided interest in property. The main difference between joint tenants and tenants-in-common is that, upon the death of a joint tenant, that co-owner's interests are extinguished and the surviving co-owner(s) receive the property.
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!
In joint tenancy, the deed of trust establishes equal rights for all co-owners and includes a right of survivorship. On the other hand, in tenancy in common, the deed of trust clarifies that each co-owner has separate shares of the property with no right of survivorship.
Joint tenants have equal property ownership, share profits and liabilities, and often have a right of survivorship. Tenants in common can have unequal shares, lack a right of survivorship, and can pass their share to chosen beneficiaries.
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.
A joint tenancy is severed by (a) mortgage or creation of a deed of trust, (b) transfer to a revocable or irrevocable trust, (c) contract to convey the property, or (d) destruction of one or more of the four unities; and the result is the failure of the right of survivorship. In re the Estate of Estelle, 122 Ariz.
In the case of joint owners, each owner generally has the right to lease out property that is jointly owned. This means that one owner can enter into a lease agreement with a tenant without the permission of the other co-owner(s).
The key difference is in post-mortem property sale taxation. Joint tenancy triggers capital gains tax on property sales after a spouse's death. CPWROS exempts it. Additionally, joint tenancy is open to anyone, while community property is usually for married couples.