With joint tenancy, each owner holds an equal share, but Texas does not assume that joint tenants automatically have a right of survivorship. This means that if one joint tenant dies, their share doesn't automatically transfer to the surviving joint tenant.
If one owner wants to sell a jointly owned property but the other owner(s) refuse, the party seeking to sell can file a partition action. This legal procedure allows a court to intervene and force the sale of the property, dividing the proceeds among the owners ing to their ownership interests.
In a joint tenancy, when one owner dies, their share of the property passes to the decedent's heirs or the persons named in the decedent's will. In a joint tenancy with right of survivorship, when an owner dies, their share of the property goes to the other owners.
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.
The key distinction between a tenancy in common and a joint tenancy is that a joint tenancy contains a right of survivorship. These means that upon the death of one owner their share of the property will pass to the surviving co-owners. A joint tenant's interest is therefore not freely devisable in a will.
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!
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 Tenancies In Texas The key distinction between a tenancy in common and a joint tenancy is that a joint tenancy contains a right of survivorship. These means that upon the death of one owner their share of the property will pass to the surviving co-owners.
An agreement confers a right of survivorship if the agreement states that on the death of one party to a joint account, all sums in the account on the date of the death vest in and belong to the surviving party as his or her separate property and estate.
Have a “Survivorship Rights” remark placed on the Texas title: Submit this completed Form VTR-122 with an Application for Texas Title and/or Registration (Form 130-U) to a county tax assessor-collector's office. In addition to the remark, up to two names can be printed as survivors on the Texas title.