Also known as: jointly-held property · joint property
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Property held in the name of two or more persons under an arrangement in which all holders have concurrent interests and under which the last surviving holder is entitled to the whole of the property. The arrangement creates a right of survivorship that passes title automatically upon the death of one holder without probate administration.
Jamal Jefferson and Jennifer Jackson held a warehouse as joint tenants with right of survivorship. Jamal leased his undivided interest to a startup for five years. Jamal died two years later. The startup's lease terminated automatically because the survivorship right extinguished Jamal's interest and any encumbrance attached to it.
Jeffrey Jha and Joanna Jung purchased a crane as tenants in common and agreed to rent it out while splitting gross receipts equally. They maintained separate construction businesses and never shared net profits or held themselves out as partners. Their co-ownership of the crane did not create a partnership under state law.
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No. The survivorship feature causes the interest to pass automatically to the surviving holder by operation of law at the moment of death. The property never becomes part of the decedent's probate estate and cannot be devised by will.
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Divorce severs the survivorship right by operation of law in most jurisdictions. The former spouses become tenants in common, each owning an undivided one-half interest that passes through the estate rather than by survivorship.
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Yes. A surviving holder may disclaim the interest in whole or in part. The disclaimer takes effect as of the death of the other holder, and the disclaimed interest passes as if the disclaimant had predeceased that holder.
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No. Joint tenancy, tenancy in common, or other forms of co-ownership do not by themselves establish a partnership even when the co-owners share profits derived from the property.
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…to alimony. The husband's bill of complaint did not ask for greater relief. It offered to show that Mrs. Armstrong's interest in jointly held property was “ample to support the defendant and that she has no further need of alimony.” The purpose of this offer, however, was revealed by the next sentence of the complaint: “Nevertheless the…