Joint Estate

Property owned by two or more people at the same time, under the same title, with the same interest, and with the same right of possession.

Although joint estate is sometimes used interchangeably with joint tenancy, the two terms are not synonymous. Joint estate denotes a broad category of ownership that includes JOINT TENANCY, TENANCY IN COMMON, and TENANCY BY THE ENTIRETY. A more apt synonym for joint estate is concurrent estate, which depicts the simultaneous ownership of property by more than one person.

Tenancy in Common

Tenancy in common provides ownership of an undivided interest of the whole but not of the whole itself. It bestows no right of survivorship, and the interest of the tenant in common is freely alienable and will pass to the heirs of the tenant upon the tenant's death. When a sole owner dies without having specified the disposition of the property, the heirs will inherit as tenants in common.