Rights of Joint Tenants

A married couple may be joint tenants on the family home deed.


The type of ownership interest a property holder has in a piece of real estate affects her inherent legal rights. The way the owner received ownership of the property on the deed, the legal document used to transfer real estate, establishes the nature of her ownership. A joint tenancy is a common form of ownership in real estate, and each joint tenant has specific legal rights in regard to the property.

Equal and Undivided Ownership

Each joint tenant has equal and undivided legal ownership of the property. The equal and undivided ownership gives the joint tenants each the legal right to dispose of or keep his share of ownership interest in the property while the joint tenancy is in effect. No one joint tenant can ever have a larger share of ownership than the other joint tenants in the same property. All joint tenants must take title to, or ownership of, the property at the same time and in the same way, such as being the receivers on the same deed.

Vested Ownership

All joint tenants are legally vested in the property, meaning the ownership is fixed for the same period of time (usually the joint tenant's lifetime), and cannot be changed by any condition while in effect. A joint tenant's ownership rights end when the joint tenant dies or otherwise disposes of his ownership interest in the property, such as selling his interest to another person.

Right of Survivorship

The ownership interest of a joint tenant automatically passes to the other joint tenant or tenants upon death; this is commonly referred to as the "right of survivorship," according to the American Bar Association. Each remaining joint tenant still has the same ownership rights in the property and receives equal percentages of ownership from the deceased joint tenant's share. The heirs of a deceased joint tenant do not have any legal claim to the property.

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