Definition of "Joint tenancy"

A type of property coownership of two or more individuals to whom real property is deeded and who together have an undivided interest in it as a whole. There is only one title to the whole property. Upon the death of a joint tenant, that person's interest does not descend to his or her heirs or pass by will. Rather, the entire ownership remains in the surviving joint tenant(s). In other word, there is simply one less owner. A joint tenant can be in exclusive possession of the property or he or she can lease his or her interest to a third party without affecting the nature of the joint tenancy. Such lease will terminate upon the death of the lessor joint tenant, with the surviving joint tenants taking the interest thereon. generally, if a joint tenant dies, the survivors(s) obtain the property, also called joint tenancy with right of survivorship. For example, John and Victor are the joint tenants of a building. Each own one half of the whole building. Upon John's death, Victor will own the whole property, and vice versa.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

Created by the US Congress in 1965, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is the agency principally responsible for federal programs relating to housing and urban ...

Survey of the maintenance requirements for a commercial or industrial rental property for the purpose of preparing a management agreement. ...

The appellant definition references a concept related to legal proceedings. The appellant is the individual who is dissatisfied with the judgment in a lawsuit and asks for a superior court ...

Written agreement between two or more parties to extend the terms of a document. ...

A notary public's guaranteeing the authenticity of a signature. ...

When you hear someone mentioning aesthetic value in connection with real estate, that person is using aesthetic value as a way to point price appreciation added to the property because of ...

A right or portion of property reserved to the grantor in a conveyance by deed. Waiver of a requirement in a lease agreement such as the landlord allowing an old tenant to have a cat or a ...

Fixed interest rate loan in which the payments are made every two weeks, but the payment is one half the amount of a regular monthly fixed-rate mortgage with the same amortization schedule. ...

In a principal gent transaction or contract where a third party knows the name of the principal the agent represents. This is a typical setting in real estate situations. In this ...

Popular Real Estate Questions