Tenants in Common vs Joint Tenancy in Florida: How Co-Owners Hold Title and What Happens Next

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Tenants in common vs joint tenancy Florida co-buyers choose between decides whether a deceased owner's share passes by will or to the surviving owner, whether shares can be unequal, and what a creditor of one owner can reach.

The deed states which. Our guide to buying with a partner unmarried in Florida covers the most common co-ownership.

Tenants in common

Each owner holds a distinct share, equal or unequal.

A share passes by will or intestacy at death.

The Florida Statutes chapter 689 governs conveyances.

Florida's default when a deed to multiple owners says nothing else.

Any owner can sell or mortgage their share.

Joint tenancy with right of survivorship

Equal shares.

At death, the share passes to the surviving owners automatically, outside probate.

The deed must state the right of survivorship expressly.

Severed if one owner conveys their interest.

Common for partners and for parent-child ownership.

Tenancy by the entirety

Married couples only; a separate category.

See our guide to tenancy by the entirety in Florida.

Survivorship plus protection from one spouse's creditors.

Florida presumes it for married couples on a joint deed.

Unmarried owners cannot use it.

The lender's view

Lenders lend against the whole property and require every owner to sign the mortgage.

See our guide to non-occupant co-borrowers in Florida.

Title form does not change the loan.

An owner not on the note still signs the mortgage.

The title company drafts the deed to the buyers' choice.

Death under tenants in common

The share goes through the deceased's estate.

See our guide to buying a probate home in Florida.

Heirs become co-owners with the survivor.

They can force a sale by partition.

A will directing the share to the co-owner avoids the worst of it.

Death under joint tenancy

The survivor owns the whole by recording a death certificate.

No probate for the home.

See our guide to the mortgage after the death of a spouse in Florida for the loan side.

The mortgage continues; the survivor assumes or refinances.

Simple and fast.

Unequal contributions

Tenants in common with 70/30 shares on the deed.

Joint tenancy cannot be unequal.

See our guide to large deposits and source of funds in Florida.

A side agreement can adjust proceeds at sale under either form.

The deed is public; the agreement is private.

Creditors

A judgment against one tenant in common attaches to their share.

A judgment against one joint tenant attaches too and can sever the tenancy.

Only tenancy by the entirety shields against one spouse's separate creditors.

See our guide to deed fraud in Florida for other title risks.

Title insurance does not cover a co-owner's later judgments.

Selling

All owners sign the deed to sell the whole.

See our guide to what happens at closing in Florida.

A tenant in common can sell their share alone, in theory; buyers are rare.

Partition is the court remedy when owners disagree.

An agreement with a buyout formula avoids court.

Homestead

Each owner who lives there claims homestead on their share.

See our guide to the Florida homestead exemption.

An owner who does not live there gets none on their share.

The cap applies per owner interest.

Portability follows each owner's share.

Taxes

Basis is tracked per share.

A joint tenant inheriting a share receives a stepped-up basis on that share only.

See our guide to capital gains on a primary residence in Florida.

The exclusion applies per owner who meets the use test.

Two unmarried owners can exclude $250,000 each.

Parent and child

A parent adding a child as joint tenant makes a gift and exposes the home to the child's creditors and divorce.

See our guide to buying a home for a parent in Florida.

A lady bird deed achieves survivorship without those risks.

See our guide to lady bird deeds and mortgages in Florida.

An attorney compares them.

Investors

Partners usually hold through an LLC rather than as tenants in common.

See our guide to LLC mortgages in Florida.

Tenants in common works for a small deal with an agreement.

1031 exchanges have specific tenants-in-common rules.

Structure with the tax adviser.

Changing later

A new deed converts one form to the other.

Marriage allows conversion to tenancy by the entirety.

See our guide to quitclaim deeds and your mortgage in Florida.

Doc stamps may apply on transfers with a mortgage.

The lender's due-on-sale exemptions cover most co-owner changes.

Reading your deed

Look for the words joint tenants with right of survivorship.

Absent those, Florida reads it as tenants in common.

Married couples are presumed entireties.

The county clerk's site has the recorded deed.

Fix it now if it is wrong.

A worked choice

Two unmarried partners with unequal down payments who want the survivor to keep the home.

Joint tenancy for survivorship, with a written agreement adjusting sale proceeds for the unequal contributions.

Wills as a backstop.

Both on the note and the policy.

The deed and the agreement together do what neither does alone.

Partition in practice

Any co-owner can file to force a sale.

The court orders a sale and divides proceeds by share.

Months of litigation and fees from the proceeds.

A buyout clause in a written agreement avoids it.

Most co-ownerships that end badly lacked one.

Where to start

Decide what should happen at a death and whether shares are equal.

Tell the title company which form you want before the deed is drafted.

Then start a conversation and we will structure the loan for the owners you choose.