Jointly owned residential or commercial property is residential or commercial property owned by more than a single person. It is generally not included in the estate of a decedent. Examples of jointly owned individual residential or commercial property are if you and another individual are both listed on the title of a car or if you have a joint checking account. If the other individual passes away, you automatically have complete ownership of that residential or commercial property.

Sometimes joint ownership is more intricate. If you owned real residential or commercial property with a decedent, or if you own any residential or commercial property with a decedent and somebody else, ownership can be tough to comprehend after a death.

In Michigan, you can jointly own residential or commercial property in four ways:

- Tenants in typical

- Joint tenants

- Joint renters with complete rights of survivorship

- Tenants by the wholes


All 4 types of joint residential or commercial property leave the surviving owner with various rights. When handling complex joint residential or commercial property scenarios, you might wish to talk with an attorney. Use the Guide to Legal Help to discover an attorney or legal services in your area.

Survivorship and the 120-Hour Rule

Survivorship (outliving your co-owner) impacts more than just the 4 types of collectively owned residential or commercial property. It can likewise impact inheritance rights of heirs and devisees. In Michigan, an individual needs to live more than 120 hours after their co-owner dies for the survivorship rights to take effect. Generally, anyone who dies throughout the very first 120 hours after a decedent's death is considered to have actually predeceased (died before) the decedent. When that occurs, they lose their interest in the decedent's residential or commercial property. As an outcome, this person's heirs and devisees will not get a share in the decedent's residential or commercial property. The 120-hour rule is not followed if:

- A will, deed, title, or trust addresses synchronised deaths or deaths in a common disaster;

- A will, deed, title, or trust specifies a person is not required to survive for a specific quantity of time or it specifies a different survival period;

- The rule would impact interests safeguarded by Michigan law; or

- The rule would trigger a failure or duplication in dispersing residential or commercial property.


Tenants in Common (Real Residential Or Commercial Property)

A tenancy in typical is developed when real residential or commercial property is communicated (transferred) to two or more individuals who are not wed to each other, and there is no reference to joint tenancy or right of survivorship. All of the renters in typical have an equal right to utilize or inhabit the whole residential or commercial property so long as the tenancy stays intact. Once a renter passes away or sells their share, the staying tenants are entitled just to their fractional share. Each renter's share passes to their estate when they die; there is no survivorship right.

Bob, Mary, and Kelly own a home together as tenants in typical. Mary passes away. Her 1/3 share of the cottage goes to her estate, not to Bob and Kelly. Bob and Kelly each own 1/3 shares of the home.

Joint Tenants (Real and Personal Residential Or Commercial Property)

A joint tenancy is produced when residential or commercial property is collectively communicated to two or more individuals. With genuine residential or commercial property, the conveyance (normally a deed) should particularly point out joint occupancy. However, when 2 individuals are noted on financial accounts (bank, credit, or savings), or when they are noted on a car title, they automatically own the residential or commercial property jointly. If the phrase "Full Rights To Survivor" appears on account documents or car title, the ownership right ends up being a survivorship right when among the joint renters passes away. This implies the enduring joint occupant takes full ownership. If that expression does not appear, then the residential or commercial property will either be probated with the remainder of the departed person's estate, or it will be divided in between that person's next-of-kin (beneficiaries).

Mary and Kelly have an automobile that is jointly entitled in their names with the phrase "Full Rights To Survivor" written on it. Kelly passes away. Mary now instantly owns the automobile, even if Kelly's estate is going through the probate procedure.

Real residential or commercial property is more complicated. If the residential or commercial property is communicated just as a joint tenancy- with no reference of a right of survivorship- the survivorship right can be severed by the owners. A single renter could sell their interest in the residential or commercial property. Or, all of the renters might agree to sever the joint tenancy, making it an occupancy in common. (See the above area on Tenants in Common).

Bob, Mary, and Kelly own a home together as joint tenants. Kelly sells her 1/3 share of the residential or commercial property to John. This ruins her joint tenancy share and changes it into a tenancy in typical. Mary passes away (with her joint occupancy with Bob intact). Her 1/3 share goes to Bob and not to her estate or John. If John passed away, his share would go to his estate.

Joint Tenants with Full Rights of Survivorship (Real Residential Or Commercial Property)

A joint occupancy with full rights of survivorship is produced when genuine residential or commercial property is communicated to 2 or more people, and the conveying document (normally a deed) specifically points out survivorship. When a joint occupant dies, their share passes to the remaining occupants. No owner can offer or transfer their interest in the residential or commercial property without the permission of the other joint occupants.

Here is an example:

Bob, Mary, and Kelly own a home together as joint occupants with complete rights of survivorship. Mary passes away. Bob and Kelly now own the entire cottage. Mary's estate gets no share of the home.

Tenancy by the Entirety (Real and Personal Residential Or Commercial Property)

An occupancy by the whole is created when residential or commercial property is communicated to a married couple at the exact same time. It is not needed for the conveyance (normally a deed) to discuss the creation of a tenancy by the totality, or to refer to the couple as such. So long as the conveyance was to spouses who were married to each other at that time, an occupancy by the entirety was produced.

This type of occupancy is generally for real residential or commercial property. But there are some instances when an occupancy by the whole can include individual residential or commercial property, such as stock certificates.

The partners each have a survivorship right, and each is presumed to own the entire residential or commercial property. Neither can sell or transfer their interest in the residential or commercial property without the other's permission. Creditors of one partner can not put a lien on the residential or commercial property. However, if both partners are accountable for the exact same financial obligation, the creditor can reach the residential or commercial property.