Should we buy a BC home as joint tenants or tenants in common?

Question

Accepted Answer

Buyers together are tenants in common, in equal shares unless stated, each share passing under its owner's will; only a transfer naming joint tenants gives survivorship, where the home goes to the survivors. The choice decides what happens to each owner's share on a death and what a co-owner can do on their own. Look up the address or PID on PlaceDossier to see the record for that lot. Tenants in common unless it says otherwise: Land transferred to two or more people, other than executors or trustees, is held by them as tenants in common unless the instrument shows a contrary intention, and where it doesn't state their shares they're presumed equal (Property Law Act s. 11). So unequal shares, such as 60 and 40, have to be written into the transfer. Joint tenants: Where the transfer makes two or more people joint tenants, the registrar enters the words "joint tenants" after their names on the title (Land Title Act s. 177). Joint tenants hold the whole together, without separate shares, and when one dies the land belongs to the survivors: the surviving owner applies to register the change with a certified copy of the probate grant or a death certificate (s. 269). Wills and probate: A tenant in common's share forms part of their estate and passes under their will. A joint tenant's interest passes to the survivors outside the will, and so is usually not part of the estate that goes through probate (our reading). A parent putting an adult child on title, or a joint tenancy meant only for convenience, can be challenged as a trust for the estate: ask a lawyer before you rely on survivorship to pass a home. Ending a joint tenancy: A joint tenant can sever it, turning it into a tenancy in common, by transferring their interest to themselves; that has the same effect as a transfer to a stranger (Property Law Act s. 18 (1), (3)). It needs no agreement from the other owners (our reading of s. 18). Paying more than your share: A registered owner who has had to pay more than their share of the mortgage, taxes, insurance, repairs, strata payments or another charge because a co-owner defaulted can ask the Supreme Court for a lien on the defaulting owner's interest and, if it isn't paid, a sale of that interest (Property Law Act ss. 13, 14). Joint tenants and tenants in common can also bring an action for account against a co-owner who received more than their share (s. 13.1). Selling when owners disagree: Any joint tenant or tenant in common can be compelled to partition or sell the land (Partition of Property Act s. 2). Where owners of half or more of the property ask the court for a sale instead of a division, the court must order one unless it sees good reason not to (s. 6). Spouses: Between spouses, the Family Law Act decides, not only the title: family property belongs to both, and on separation each spouse has a right to an undivided half interest in it as a tenant in common, unless an agreement or order says otherwise (Family Law Act s. 81). Which property counts as family property is for a family lawyer. What it means for a buyer: Partners and spouses commonly choose joint tenancy for survivorship; friends, relatives and investors who put in different amounts commonly choose tenants in common with stated shares and a written co-ownership agreement on who pays what and how one buys the other out (our reading). Adding or removing an owner later is a transfer, which can owe property transfer tax unless an exemption, such as a family transfer of a principal residence, applies: see property transfer tax.

Should we buy a BC home as joint tenants or tenants in common?

What the answer means

Before you buy: who to ask