The K-Zone: joint tenancy

If one or more people have an InterestInLand as joint tenants, then they are co-owners of that land. This form of CoOwnershipOfLand is characterised by the indivisibility of the estate: no individual joint tenant can identify his specific `piece' of the estate. This means that the estate can only be transmitted in its entirety, and if one of the joint tenants dies his share is not inheritable by his successors (`RightOfSurvivorShip'). This is in contrast to the concept of TenancyInCommon, where each owner has a specific interest that is transmissible.

Under the LawOfPropertyAct1925 the joint tenancy is the only legal form of co-ownership of land. This form of co-ownership is appropriate for, for example, married couples, but it is not very useful to businesses, who usually prefer a tenancy in common. To create a tenancy in common requires that the legal owners hold the property on trust as a tenancy in common for the beneficiaries. In such cases it is quite common for the trustees and the beneficiaries to be the same people - this is simply the device that the law has created to give effect to a tenancy in common.

LandAndPropertyLaw