I am doing a talk at the Warwickshire Property Meet on Monday all about joint tenancy and tenancy in common. So as I am in the middle of preparing it I thought I would pop a few words onto the blog for you.
It is really important when buying a house jointly with someone else that you both understand the difference between “Joint Tenants” and “Tenants in Common” and the VERY important consequences.
Although we tend to think of couples buying a house together this is not always the case. Sometimes friends or investment partners buy jointly. There may be more than 2 people involved or they may be making an unequal contribution to the purchase price.
Also, in this age of divorce and second families often people want to preserve their share of a house so that it passes to their children and not to a new partner or spouse and their children
Joint tenancy and tenancy in common are legal mechanisms which reflect how people want to own the share in a house and what happens to that share on death.
A joint tenancy is where the property is owned by all joint owners but with none of them having a separate and distinct share. If one owner dies the property automatically passes in whole to the survivor(s) despite the terms of the deceased’s will.
Meanwhile, a tenancy in common is where each owner has a separate and distinct share eg 50/50 or 75/25.
This form of ownership may be appropriate if the purchasers have contributed to the purchase price in unequal shares. If one dies his/her share is not automatically transferred to the survivor(s) but will pass according to the provisions of the deceased’s Will or, if there is no Will, under the Laws of Intestacy.
Facebook 
YouTube
