A tenancy in common differs from joint tenancy in that tenancy in common:
Correct Answer
A) Has no right of survivorship among the owners
Why this is correct: Tenancy in common interests are separate and transferable, so they pass to heirs upon death, not automatically to the other owners (no right of survivorship). Why the other choices are wrong: 'Requires all owners to hold equal shares' is false; shares can be unequal. 'May only be held by married couples' describes tenancy by the entirety. 'Terminates automatically upon any owner's death' describes a life estate, not a tenancy in common. Exam tip: Remember: Joint tenancy has the 'four unities' and right of survivorship; tenancy in common does not.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
The absence of a right of survivorship is the defining difference between tenancy in common and joint tenancy. Because each tenant in common holds a separate, devisable interest, that interest passes through the deceased owner's estate rather than vanishing into the surviving co-owners' shares. That single distinction drives the practical consequences: estate administration, the ability to will a share, and the possibility that co-owners will be strangers to one another. Shares may also be unequal, which follows from the same underlying separateness of the interests.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option B: Requires all owners to hold equal shares
Equal shares are a feature of joint tenancy, which requires unity of interest, not of tenancy in common, where one owner may hold ninety percent and another ten. The option assigns to tenancy in common a requirement belonging to the very form it is being contrasted with. Unequal shares are in fact one of the most common reasons parties choose tenancy in common.
Option C: May only be held by married couples
Restriction to married couples describes tenancy by the entirety, which is recognized in some states and carries survivorship and creditor protection. Tenancy in common is available to any two or more persons or entities, related or not, and is the default form in many jurisdictions when a deed does not specify. The option describes a different tenancy entirely.
Option D: Terminates automatically upon any owner's death
Termination on an owner's death describes a life estate, which is measured by a life and ends when that life ends. A tenancy in common survives an owner's death; only the identity of one co-owner changes as the share passes to heirs. Nothing about the co-tenancy itself terminates.
Survivorship Is the Switch
One question sorts the co-ownership forms: when an owner dies, does the share go to the co-owners or to the heirs? To the co-owners means joint tenancy or entirety. To the heirs means tenancy in common.
How to use: Read the stem for a death, a will, or a transfer of a share. Then apply the survivorship switch. If the stem instead mentions marriage, consider tenancy by the entirety where the state recognizes it.
Exam Tip
Appraising a fractional undivided interest is not simply the whole value times the fraction. Discounts for lack of control and lack of marketability commonly apply and must be supported.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- -Assuming co-owners must hold equal shares
- -Confusing tenancy by the entirety with ordinary tenancy in common
- -Valuing a fractional interest as a simple pro rata share of the whole
Concept Deep Dive
Analysis
Concurrent ownership comes in a few standard forms and they are distinguished by the unities required to create them and by what happens on an owner's death. Joint tenancy traditionally requires the four unities of time, title, interest, and possession, meaning the owners took the same interest through the same instrument at the same moment with equal shares and undivided possession, and it carries the right of survivorship, so a deceased owner's share passes automatically to the survivors outside probate. Tenancy in common requires only unity of possession: co-owners may hold unequal fractional shares, may have acquired them at different times through different deeds, and each may sell, mortgage, or devise their share freely. On death, a tenant in common's share passes to their heirs or devisees through the estate rather than to the co-owners. Tenancy by the entirety, available in some states, is a joint tenancy variant reserved for married couples that adds a unity of person and carries survivorship plus creditor protections. For an appraiser the form of ownership matters chiefly when a fractional interest rather than the whole property is being appraised, since fractional interests often warrant discounts for lack of control and lack of marketability.
Background Knowledge
You need the forms of concurrent ownership, tenancy in common, joint tenancy, and tenancy by the entirety, the four unities, and the right of survivorship. You should also know freehold estates including fee simple absolute, fee simple defeasible, and life estates, and the concept of fractional interest discounts for lack of control and marketability.
Real-World Application
An appraiser engaged to value a one-third undivided interest in inherited farmland confirms the co-owners hold as tenants in common with unequal shares. She values the whole property, then analyzes market evidence on fractional interest discounts, and clearly identifies the interest appraised throughout the report.
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