Forms Of Real Estate Ownership For Individuals There are several different ways real estate may be owned. Ownership can be held by one or more persons with different rights depending on the form of ownership. Theses forms include: Sole Ownership, Tenants In Common, Tenancy By The Entirety, and Joint Tenancy. With a sole ownership, as the form implies, there is only one owner and he or she makes all decisions concerning the property, and the property goes to the heirs when the owner dies.This type of ownership is also referred to as Estate in Severalty, meaning everyone else has been severed as part owner. With a Tenants in Common ownership, two or more persons may own the property together, and each has an undivided interest in the property. For instance, if three people buy ten acres of land for $10,000, with one paying $2.000; one paying $3,000, and the other pays $5,000, then each, respectively, one owns twenty percent, the other, thirty percent, and the other owns fifty percent. Each owner owns the property the same and cannot claim or divide the property by their percent of ownership.  Each owner may sell his or her percentage to another person, and that person then becomes a tenant in common. If any owner dies, the percentage of ownership goes to the heirs. In a Joint Tenancy form of ownership, there are one or more owners, and the distinguishing feature is that each owner has the "right of survivorship." Which means, if one of the owners dies, then the ownership goes to the remaining partner or partners, not the heirs. Each owner also has an undivided interest to use the property, as with a tenants in common type ownership. The other unique feature of this form of ownership is that the property must have been acquired at the same time, from the same source, and have exactly the same interest in the property, not a percentage. Any owner may sell his or her interest in the joint tenancy and it will then be terminated. One other form of ownership is named Tenancy By The Entirety, and this is actually for people who are married. It is like a Joint Tenancy in that there is the right of survivorship. However, while both husband and life are alive, both signatures are necessary to sell the property. Certain States do not recognize one or more of these forms of ownership. By MS Jazzetti   Website: http://www.betterlifestyles.com