Where two or more people purchase land together the ownership of the land may be completed either as Joint Tenants or Tenants in Common.
Joint Tenants
The significant feature of this form of ownership is that on the death of the first owner, the property automatically passes to the survivor/s by way of a rule of law known as Survivorship. It does not matter what is in your Will, the surviving owner/s will take the entire property in their own name/s.
Tenants in Common
This form of ownership allows for property to be owned in distinct shares. The most common form is tenancy in common in equal shares. Significantly, the rule of Survivorship does not apply and as a consequence what happens to your share of the property on your death depends entirely on what you state in your Will.
This type of arrangement is commonly used when:
1. one party contributes more financially to the purchase; or
2. where the parties wish to protect the interests of children from a previous relationship; or
3. to protect the property from creditors (particularly if self-employed) or other claimants.
It is common with this form of ownership for each owner to make a Will giving the other a life interest. This gives the right for the survivor to live in the property after the first one of them dies.
By Cathy Booth | Legal Executive
The information contained in this article is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter.
