20+ Differences between Joint Tenants And Tenants In Common (Explained)

When anyone hears the terms Joint Tenants and Tenants in Common, they first think it must be related to people living on rent.

However, the meaning of these terms is completely different. Both the terms Joint Tenants and Tenants in Common represent nothing but an individual’s ownership of a property that is co-owned by a group of people.

Comparison Between Joint Tenants And Tenants In Common

Parameter	Joint Tenants	Tenants in Common
Meaning	A group of people owning a property in equal proportions is known as Joint Tenants.	A group of people owning a property in various proportions is known as Tenants in Common.
Share	People becoming Joint Tenants always have to share their property equally. People who do not want equal proportions have to choose from Tenants in Common.	Sharing a property in different proportions is the most flexible feature of Tenants in Common. It allows people to share property in any proportion the person wants.
Liability	Property cannot be sold if a person is a Joint Tenant. Anyone wanting to sell out their share of the property must receive consent.	Tenants have to share the liabilities related to the property in proportion to sharing property. So, if two Tenants share property in the ratio of 60:40, they will share the liabilities in the same ratio.
Right of Survivorship	When either of the Tenants dies, his share of the property is divided among the existing Tenants instead of passing out the share to the heir of the dead person. This is known as the Right of Survivorship.	Tenants living as Tenants in Tenants in Common do not have the Right of Survivorship. This means when either of the Tenants dies, his share of the property is passed onto his heir as per his will.
Leaving the agreement	Leaving the agreement of Joint Tenancy is not easy. If either of the Tenants wants to go deal, this will result in a breach of the contract, which means the deal will be canceled.	It is straightforward to leave the agreement if anyone wants. Unlike Joint Tenants, leaving the deal does not result in a breach of the contract.
Selling property	To become Joint Tenants, all the partners must acquire the property simultaneously. If all the Tenants do not or can not accept the property simultaneously, they would no longer be known as Joint Tenants but as Tenants in Common.	Yet again, Tenants in Common have the edge over the Joint Tenants; it is very for an individual to sell out their respective share of the property. And consent is not even necessary; one can do so without even informing others.
Conditions	Joint Tenancy or becoming Joint Tenants is only possible when there is a presence of four conditions in the form of unities: Unity of Time, Unity of Title, Unity of Possession, and Unity of Interest.	Becoming Tenants in Common does not require the presence of any conditions.
Time	People aiming to become Tenants in Common do not have to ensure that a single document is used.	All the Tenants don’t need to acquire the property simultaneously to become Tenants in Common.
Title	All the partners must become Joint Tenants through a single document. If someone is becoming Tenants from one copy while others are becoming Tenants from other documents, they can not be referred to as Joint Tenants.	Joint Tenants are mainly suitable for those who are husband and wife or are indulged in romantic relationships, as both are equal owners. It is also ideal for those who want to keep the proportions equal only and do not want to pass their share onto someone after death.
Ideal for	Joint Tenants are mainly suitable for those who are husband and wife or those who are indulged in romantic relationships, as both are equal owners. It is also ideal for those who want to keep the proportions equal only and do not want to pass their share onto someone after death.	Tenants in Common is suitable for almost everyone. It is especially ideal for those who want to share the property in different proportions and want to pass their share onto someone else after death.

Major Differences Between Joint Tenants And Tenants In Common

Who exactly are Joint Tenants?

Joint Tenants are the people who own a property in partnership and typically have an equal share. The matching share is not limited to only property; all the Joint Tenants must ensure that everyone gets an equal share in taxes and debts.

One of the hallmark features of Joint Tenants is that all the Tenants in this partnership arrangement have the Right to Survivorship, meaning if either of the Tenants dies, then his respective share is distributed among the other Tenants directly.

Features of Joint Tenants

It is an arrangement of partnership where a group of people owns a property together, typically with an equal share.
All the partners in this type of arrangement have a Right of Survivorship, meaning if either of the partners dies, then his share is not passed onto someone else; instead, it is shared between the existing partners.
To form a Joint Tenancy, the law demands the presence of four conditions in the form of Unities: Time, Possession, Title, and Interest.
The departure of a partner from the joint Tenancy agreement results in a contract breach.

Key Differences: Joint Tenants

It refers to a group of people who own property together and have equal shares.
What distinguishes Joint Tenants from Tenants in Common is that when any Joint Tenant dies, his share in the property is not passed onto his heirs; instead, his share is divided among the other Joint Tenants.
If any Joint Tenant does not want to stay in the agreement anymore and decides to be out of it, it will breach the whole agreement.

Features Of Joint Tenants With Sub Hardpoints

Who exactly are Tenants in Common?

Tenants in Common are the people who own a property and have different shares percentages individually. Each partner has to pay their share of debt as per their percentage of shares.

Unlike Joint Tenants, Tenants in Common do not have Rights to Survivorship, meaning if either of the partners dies, then his share of the property will be passed onto someone as per his wishes as stated in the will. It would not be distributed among other partners in any way.

Features of Tenants In Common

It is an arrangement of partnership where a group of people owns a property together in different proportions.
Partners in this type of arrangement do not have any Right of Survivorship, meaning on the death of any partner, his share of the property is not distributed among the other existing partners.
One of the benefits of Tenants in Common is that, in this type of arrangement, any partner can sell his respective share of the property as and when he desires to do so. He is also not entitled to do so by informing the other partners.

Key Differences: Tenants In Common

It refers to a group of people who own property together but have different respective shares.
One of the classic features of Tenants in Common is that when any of the Tenants dies, his share of the property is passed onto someone else as per the will of the dead person.
This type of ownership arrangement allows the partners to leave the agreement as per their wishes. Unlike Joint Tenants, this does not result in a breach of arrangement when someone leaves the partnership.

The Contrast Between Joint Tenants And Tenants In Common

Meaning

Joint Tenants – It refers to a group of people owning a property together as per the Joint Tenancy agreement. This agreement allows people to own property in equal proportions. Therefore, every Joint Tenant is considered the owner of the property.

Tenants in Common refers to a group of people owning a property together as per the Tenants in Common agreement. This arrangement largely allows people more flexibility than Joint Tenants as it allows people to share a property in different proportions per the partners’ wishes.

Joint Tenants – One of the classic features of Joint Tenants is that these people own a property in equal proportions. So if there are two Joint Tenants, each person would have a fifty percent share. If there are three owners, each Tenant would have a 33.33 percent share, and so on.

Tenants in Common – The classic feature of Tenants in Common is that Tenants in this scenario can also have their respective property shares in different proportions. However, it should be noted that having different proportions of shares is not a must. They can have it equally as well.

Liability

Joint Tenants – Since Joint Tenants typically have an equal share in the property and an equal share in the liability. Here liability means any debt, property tax, repairs, etc.

Tenants in Common – The share of liability of Tenants in Common depend on their share of the property. If two partners have their share of 60% and 40%, respectively, this percentage share will also apply to different types of liabilities.

Right of Survivorship

Joint Tenants – One of the major advantages of being a Joint Tenant is that the agreement of Joint Tenancy allows its Tenants the Right of Survivorship.

It means that if any partner dies, his share will not be passed onto someone outside the agreement. Instead, his share of the property will be divided among the other existing Tenants.

What exactly is the Right of Survivorship?

The Right of Survivorship is associated with the people who are co-owners of a property. This Right states that if any co-owner dies, his share in the property will be distributed among the other co-owners.

The share of the concerned dead co-owner will not be passed onto any of his heirs. It should be noted that the Right of Survivorship is given to people living as Joint Tenants, not those living as Tenants in Common.

Tenants in Common – Unlike Joint Tenants, Tenants in Common do not have any Right of Survivorship, meaning if any of the partners dies, then his share of the property would not go to the existing partners; instead, it will be passed onto the person as per the will of the dead person.

Leaving the agreement

Joint Tenants – Leaving the agreement in the case of Joint Tenants is not easy in this case. If any partner leaves the agreement, it results in a breach of the agreement. This means the agreement stands canceled.

Tenants in Common – If anyone wants to leave the agreement of Tenants in Common, then he can do so without any problems. Unlike the agreement of Joint Tenants, the agreement of Tenants in Common does not result in any cancellation.

Selling property

Joint Tenants – Joint Tenants are not allowed to sell their or others’ share of the property. Anyone who wants to sell the property must receive the consent of all the other existing partners.

Tenants In Common – Here, Tenants in Common have the edge over the Joint Tenants; they are allowed to sell their share of the property. And along with that, they do not even need to inform others about it.

Conditions

Joint Tenants – To form a Joint Tenancy agreement or become Joint Tenants, there must be four conditions in the form of unities: Time, Title, Possession, and Interest. Unity of Time means that each Tenant should simultaneously get their share of the property. Unity of Title states that all the Tenants should become Joint Tenants from a single document only. According to the Unity of Possession, every Tenant must have access to the property in equal proportion. Finally, unity of interest states that each Tenant must follow an equal interest in Joint Tenancy.

Tenants in Common – No conditions are required to form a Tenants in Common agreement.

Conditions to form Joint Tenancy

Unity of Title – According to this condition, all Tenants aiming to form Joint Tenancy must only become Tenants from a single document. If two Tenants have joined from one document and the other two have joined from another, they can not be called Joint Tenants.
Unity of Time – According to this condition, all the Tenants aiming to become Joint Tenants must acquire the property simultaneously. If two Tenants acquire the property on the 8th of July and the other two acquire it on the 10th of July, they can not be referred to as Joint Tenants.
Unity of Possession – According to this condition, Tenants aiming to form a Joint Tenancy must acquire the property equally. Equal proportion is a must to form Joint Tenancy.
Unity of Interest – According to this condition, Tenants aiming to become Joint Tenants must have an equal interest in the share of the property.

Time

Joint Tenants – To form or become a joint tenant, each Tenant must simultaneously get their share of the property. Therefore, if any Tenant gets a share of the property earlier or later than others, they cannot be called Joint Tenants.

Tenants in Common – To become Tenants in Common, it is not mandatory to simultaneously give all the Tenants access to the property. Instead, it is alright if a Tenant gets access to the property earlier or later than the others.

Title

To Joint Tenant- it is crucial to understand that all the Tenants must get their property title through a single document. Therefore, if two Tenants have entered the partnership by a single document, but the third Tennant has come through another document, then all three Tenants can not be considered a part of Joint Tenancy.

Tenants In Common – There is no restriction on the entry of Tenants to become Tenants in Common. They are considered Tenants in Common even if they come from different documents.

Ideal for

Joint Tenants – Being Joint Tenants is generally ideal for husband and wife or romantic partners who want to be equal property owners and do not want to pass the property onto someone else after their death.

Tenants In Common – Being Tenants in Common is ideal for anyone who wants to own a property jointly and does not want an equal share of it. Also, it is suitable for those who want to pass their share of the property onto someone else after their death.

Conclusion

The terms “Joint Tenants” and “Tenants in common” is often misunderstood and, when understood, often confused with one another. The purpose of both arrangements is to own a property jointly.

The major difference between Joint Tenants and Tenants in Common is that the former allows people to own a property equally and gives them the Right to Survivorship. In contrast, the latter allows people to own property in different proportions without the Right to Survivorship.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. What is the main feature of Joint Tenants?

The significant feature of Joint Tenants is that people get to own a property equally and have the Right to Survivorship.

Q2. What is the main feature of Tenants in Common?

Tenants in Common’s significant feature is that people get to own a property in different proportions per Tenants’ wishes. They can also sell their share of the property as and when they want. But unfortunately, they do not have the Right to Survivorship.

Q3. What are the different conditions needed to become Joint Tenants?

Four different conditions are needed to become Joint Tenants. These conditions include Unity of Time, Unity of Interest, Unity of Possession, and Unity of Title.

Q4. What does Unity of Time mean?

Unity of Time mainly means that all the people aiming to become Joint Tenants should acquire their share of the property at the same time. Therefore, if either of the partners acquires their share earlier or later than the others, they can not be called Joint Tenants; instead, they would be referred to as Tenants in Common.

Q5. What are the major differences between Joint Tenants and Tenants in Common?

Joint Tenants allow people to get their share of the property only equally, whereas Tenants in Common allow people to get their share of the property in various proportions.
The former has the Right of Survivorship, while the latter does not. The former allows people to sell their property only if everyone has given consent, while the latter allows people to sell their shares as and when they like