What’s the difference between joint tenants and tenants in common? Conveyancing and Property

Joint tenants means both owners own the whole of the property together. Married couples or those in civil partnerships often choose this type of ownership.

If you are joint tenants, your share of the property will automatically pass to the other owner on your death and this would supersede any provisions in your will. This is known as the ‘right of survivorship’.

Tenants in common are different. In this arrangement, you will specify what share each owner has in the property. For example, you could state that you own 50% of the property and your partner owns the remaining 50%.

When a property is held in this way and one of the owners dies, their share passes to whoever they have named in their will as the recipient of their share, rather than it passing automatically to the other co-owner. It is, therefore, essential that you make or update your will, making provision for who will be entitled to your share when you pass away.

If you are contributing to your purchase in unequal shares and want to protect your contributions then you must own the property as tenants in common and, in addition to making a will, we recommend you enter into a Declaration of Trust to document the proportions of the property that each person owns and how they are to be divided on the sale of the property.