An Overview of Co-Ownership of Real Estate in Florida

In Florida, there are three primary forms of joint ownership of real estate/home titles. Let’s take a quick look at each of these three and the pros and cons that come with them.

Tenancy in common

In Florida, when two or more people hold a title they ususally do so as tenants in common, unless otherwise stated. Any co-owner in a tenancy in common can sell, lease or make testamentary transfers of their share through their will to their heirs. This type of ownership does not have a right of survivorship when a tenant dies, which means their share in the property will be distributed according to their will. The other tenants to the property do not have any right to those shares, unless they are listed as heirs in the will.

Joint tenancy with right of survivorship

The co-owners in this ownership arrangement  have equal interest in the title to the property, which means they alsot have equal shares. Each co-owner has the right to occupy the entire property. If a co-owner dies in such an arrangement, the deceased’s share will be evenly divided among the other co-owner(s)..

Tenancy by the entireties

This type of property ownership is for married couples. There are some similarities to joint tenancy with right of survivorship, in that both spouses have an equal share of the property and survivorship rights should the other spouse pass away. There is an additional benefit, though, in that creditors of one spouse cannot go after only their share—both parties must share a creditor for the creditor to go after the property. The only way this ownership ends is through a legal agreement or through divorce, in which case the title changes to tenants in common.

For more information about the various types of title ownership in Florida and how they could affect your estate plans, contact an experienced Tampa estate planning attorney at BaumannKangas Estate Law.