Title insurance just may be the biggest real estate decision that you’ve never heard of! If you’re buying a home with someone else, there are three ways to take concurrent ownership:
- Tenancy by the Entirety (this option is exclusively reserved for married couples)
- Joint Tenancy
- Tenancy in Common.
Tenancy by the entirety may be chosen exclusively for married couples, whereby they own the property as a single legal entity and cannot sell or transfer the home without the other’s consent. Additionally, if one of the spouse’s should die during ownership, the surviving spouse is entitled to the decedent’s share (right of survivorship). While the vast majority of married couples choose this option because it offers additional protection and benefits, they may also choose to take title as joint tenants or tenants in common.
However, if you are not married, and buying a home with another person, you have two options:
- Joint Tenancy refers to ownership by two or more people (each called joint tenants) who share equal ownership in a property and have an equal, undivided right to keep or dispose of the property. Most notably, if one of the joint tenants dies, the remaining share is transferred to the surviving tenant(s). Generally speaking, joint tenancy is very similar to tenancy by the entirety for married couples, although joint tenants retain the right of dispose of their share of the property without the other tenant’s permission. Additionally, joint tenants are not considered a single legal entity as they are in tenancy by the entirety.
- Tenancy in Common is a less restrictive type of ownership, in which two or more people do NOT need to have equal shares of ownership in the property (although they may, and typically do!). Additionally, if one of the owners dies, their share does NOT automatically transfer to the surviving owner. And like joint tenancy, the owners each have the right to keep or dispose of their share in the property at their will.
If you wish to learn more about title insurance or how to take ownership of your new home, be sure to consult your title insurance agency or family attorney.