Joint Tenancy vs Tenancy in Common: Survivorship, Shares and How the Deed Decides
Joint tenants have a right of survivorship; tenants in common do not. How the deed language decides which one you hold, with the Florida and Arizona rules.
Quick answer
In a joint tenancy with right of survivorship, a co-owner's share passes automatically to the surviving owners at death. In a tenancy in common, each owner holds a separate share that can be sold or left by will. When a deed says nothing, the default in many states is tenancy in common.
What is the difference between joint tenancy and tenancy in common?
The Legal Information Institute describes joint tenancy as a form of joint ownership where "each owner has an undivided interest in the property" and the right of survivorship means that when one owner dies, the other owners take the deceased owner's interest (Legal Information Institute, joint tenancy). Its example is two owners, A and B: if A dies, B gets sole ownership of the house.
A tenancy in common is the other common form. The same source says it "typically has no right of survivorship," so a deceased owner's share goes to the person named in the will rather than to the co-owner (Legal Information Institute, tenancy in common). Its shares can be of unequal size, and "can be freely transferred to other owners both during the owner's lifetime and via a will."
People often type "joint tenants with right of survivorship," or the abbreviation JTWROS, when they mean the first of these. It is the same idea.
Definition
Joint tenancy vs tenancy in common — Both are ways for two or more people to own the same property. The key difference is survivorship: when a joint tenant dies, the survivors take the share; when a tenant in common dies, the share goes to that person's heirs or beneficiaries.
Joint tenancy vs tenancy in common, side by side
The table summarizes the usual differences. State law adds exceptions, and the next sections show what two state statutes say.
| Question | Joint tenancy with right of survivorship | Tenancy in common |
|---|---|---|
| What happens to a share at death? | Passes to the surviving joint tenants | Passes under the owner's will or to heirs |
| Can shares be unequal? | Interests are equal | Yes, shares may be unequal |
| Can an owner leave their share by will? | No, survivorship takes priority | Yes |
| Right to use the whole property? | Each owner may use all of it | Each owner may use all of it, whatever the share |
| What does the deed need to say? | Words that expressly create survivorship | Nothing special, and it is the usual default |
What happens when the deed does not say which one it is?
The deed language decides. The Legal Information Institute puts the default plainly: "If a vesting is not specified, it is presumed to be a tenancy in common."
Two states we serve write that default into statute. Florida says a conveyance to two or more people "shall create a tenancy in common, unless the instrument creating the estate shall expressly provide for the right of survivorship" (Fla. Stat. 689.15). The same section carves out tenancy by the entirety, which is held by spouses.
Arizona says "all grants and devises of real property made to two or more persons create estates in common and not in joint tenancy," with exceptions including grants to a husband and wife (A.R.S. 33-431). To create survivorship, a grant may vest the estate in the survivor "when expressly declared in the grant, transfer or devise to be a joint tenancy with right of survivorship."
So in Florida and Arizona, silence means tenancy in common. A deed that is meant to create survivorship has to say so in express words.
How do Florida, Arizona and Texas handle survivorship?
The rules below come from the statute text read on 2026-10-04. Texas is included because its statute handles survivorship for married couples, which is the case many owners mean.
| State | Default for a deed to two or more people | How to create survivorship |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | Tenancy in common (Fla. Stat. 689.15) | The instrument must expressly provide for the right of survivorship; tenancy by the entirety is treated separately |
| Arizona | Estates in common (A.R.S. 33-431(A)) | Express words declaring a joint tenancy with right of survivorship (33-431(B)); for spouses, community property with right of survivorship (33-431(C)) |
| Texas | Not addressed in the section read | Spouses may agree that community property becomes the property of the surviving spouse (Tex. Est. Code 112.051) |
What about married couples in Texas?
Texas handles survivorship between spouses through a separate agreement. The Estates Code says "spouses may agree between themselves that all or part of their community property, then existing or to be acquired, becomes the property of the surviving spouse on the death of a spouse" (Tex. Est. Code 112.051).
Because this is an agreement between the spouses, not only deed wording, a title search for a Harris County property should read both the deed and any recorded agreement. See title search in Harris County, Texas. This article does not cover other Texas co-owners, who are outside the section read.
How can you tell which one a property is from the public record?
Find the vesting deed
The deed that put the current owners into title carries the wording. Look for the grantee clause: "as joint tenants with right of survivorship," "as tenants in common," or no description at all.
Read the exact words
In the states read here, survivorship has to be expressly declared. Compare the wording against the state statute.
Look for later deeds and affidavits
A later deed can change how the owners hold title. Arizona, for example, lets spouses end community-property survivorship by a recorded affidavit (A.R.S. 33-431(D)). Read every deed after the vesting deed in order.
If an owner has died, look for what followed
For a joint tenancy the survivors take the share, and for a tenancy in common it goes under the deceased owner's will or to heirs. The record may show what followed. Read estate and probate transfers in the chain of title and heir property.
What a records search cannot tell you
How do transfer on death and life estate deeds compare?
Survivorship is one way to pass property at death without a will. Others work differently. A transfer on death deed names a beneficiary who takes after the owner dies, and a life estate deed gives someone a right to use the property for life. A quitclaim deed is often the document that adds or removes a co-owner, so read its wording closely.
Where a title search fits
HeritageDeed reads the recorded vesting deed and the documents that follow it, in the counties on the title search coverage page, including Florida and Maricopa County, Arizona: $49 for a Current Owner Search, $79 for a Two Owner Search and $129 for a 30-Year Search. For the full method, see how to do a title search.
Key takeaways
Key takeaways
- Joint tenants with right of survivorship pass the share to the survivors at death. Tenants in common hold separate shares that can be sold or left by will.
- Silence in the deed usually means tenancy in common: Florida (689.15) and Arizona (33-431) both say so in statute.
- Survivorship has to be expressly declared in the deed, in the states read here.
- Texas married couples use a survivorship agreement for community property (Estates Code 112.051).
- The deed wording is in the public record, but an unclear deed is a question for an attorney.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the main difference between joint tenancy and tenancy in common?
- The right of survivorship. When a joint tenant dies, the surviving owners take that share automatically. When a tenant in common dies, the share goes to that person's heirs or to whoever the will names. Tenants in common can also hold unequal shares.
- What does JTWROS mean?
- JTWROS stands for joint tenants with right of survivorship. It describes co-owners whose shares pass to the survivors at death. A deed in Florida or Arizona must expressly say so, because both states treat a deed to two or more people as a tenancy in common by default.
- Is tenancy in common or joint tenancy the default?
- In Florida and Arizona the default is tenancy in common. Florida 689.15 says a conveyance to two or more creates a tenancy in common unless the instrument expressly provides for survivorship. Arizona 33-431 says grants to two or more persons create estates in common.
- Can tenants in common own unequal shares?
- Yes. The Legal Information Institute says the shares of tenants in common may be of unequal size, and each can be freely transferred during life or by will. Each owner still has the right to use the whole property.
- Can I leave my share of a joint tenancy to someone in my will?
- Not in the usual case. Survivorship passes the share to the surviving joint tenants at death, so a will does not control it. A tenant in common can leave their share by will. Ask an attorney about your state, because rules and exceptions vary.
- How do I find out how a property is titled?
- Read the recorded vesting deed at the county recorder or clerk and look at the grantee clause. A title search report lists the deed and the documents recorded after it, so you can see whether any later deed or affidavit changed how the owners hold title.
Sources
Primary records and official documentation cited in this article.
- 1Legal Information Institute, joint tenancy (Wex)
- 2Legal Information Institute, tenancy in common (Wex)
- 3Florida Legislature, Online Sunshine: Fla. Stat. 689.15, Estates by survivorship
- 4Arizona Legislature, A.R.S. 33-431, Grants and devises to two or more persons
- 5Texas Estates Code 112.051, Agreement for Right of Survivorship in Community Property (Texas.Public.Law)
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