{"id":857,"date":"2017-11-06T20:09:52","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T20:09:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jacksonwhitelaw.com\/arizona-estate-planning\/?page_id=857"},"modified":"2022-08-26T15:06:27","modified_gmt":"2022-08-26T15:06:27","slug":"joint-tenants-vs-tenants-common","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jacksonwhitelaw.com\/arizona-estate-planning\/blog\/joint-tenants-vs-tenants-common\/","title":{"rendered":"Tenants in Common in Arizona"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/h2>\n

In Arizona, property law is governed by ARS Title 33<\/a>. Joint or community property is covered in ARS 33-431<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When multiple people own real estate or property, ownership of the property is typically shared as either joint tenancy or as tenants in common. Under such arrangements, joint owners share the property as a whole rather than owning specific tracts of land or parts of the home. However, while both joint tenants and tenants in common allow for similar joint ownership, their provisions have notable differences.<\/p>\n

Joint Tenancy<\/h2>\n

Joint tenancy property ownership requires all parties have equal shares, and the agreement must be entered into at the same time. This usually occurs at the time of purchase, with all owners listed on the deed or title. The agreement concludes if one of the joint tenants sells their interest, at which point the new owners can enter into a separate joint tenancy agreement, or the agreement can naturally transition to tenancy in common.<\/p>\n

Joint tenancy is usually favored by married couples because it simplifies the transfer of ownership when the first spouse passes away. The downside is that to sell your share of the property, you would need the consent of all parties.<\/p>\n

Tenants in Common<\/h2>\n

While joint tenancy requires equal shares of ownership, tenants in common may own differing shares (e.g. one business partner owns 75% and the other owns 25%). A tenancy in common agreement can be initiated at any time, so it doesn\u2019t necessarily need to happen at the time of purchase. It\u2019s not uncommon to see a third or fourth joint owner be added as tenants in common years after the property was purchased.<\/p>\n

Tenancy in common can be broken in three ways:<\/p>\n