Key Features
- Unequal ownership percentages. Owners can hold different percentage shares of the property (such as 70% and 30%).
- Equal property access. Regardless of ownership percentage, each owner has the right to full use of the property.
- Independent control of shares. Unless otherwise stated in the agreement, each owner retains the right to sell or transfer their shares independently.
- No survivorship rights. Owners typically do not have a right of survivorship; if an owner dies, their shares pass to their estate rather than to another owner.[1]
Property Use
Each co-owner has the right to occupy and use the property, regardless of their ownership percentage. However, exactly how the property is used can be decided by the tenants, so long as they are in agreement with each other.
Potential uses of the property include a shared residence for the owners, a residency for a single owner, or a rental property leased to a third party.
How are Expenses Divided?
There is no required method by which property expenses are split among the co-owners. While dividing mortgage payments, property taxes, and other relevant expenses in proportion to each tenant’s ownership interest is common practice, any arrangement can be established in the tenancy in common agreement.
Property Taxes
Tenancy in common does not legally split the property, so co-owners typically receive a single property tax bill. The owners must decide how to divide the costs of the bill amongst themselves.
Other Forms of Shared Property Ownership
In addition to tenancy in common, there are two other forms of shared property ownership: joint tenancy and tenancy by the entirety. The three differ from one another in small but significant ways.
Under joint tenancy, each owner has undivided interest in the property, rather than an ownership percentage. Each owner also has a right of survivorship.[2]
Tenancy by the entirety also includes the right of survivorship and undivided interest in the property, but this form of shared ownership is only available to married couples.[3]
| Tenancy in Common | Joint Tenancy | Tenancy by the Entirety | |
| Property Ownership | Ownership percentage | Undivided interest | Undivided interest |
| Right of Survivorship |  |
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| Recognized in All States | |
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| Available to All Owners | |
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How to Dissolve
A common way in which a tenancy in common is dissolved is through a joint legal agreement in which one of the co-owners buys out the other tenants. If such an agreement cannot be reached, then a judicial partition action may be used to divide the property.