Joint tenancy

If a property is held in joint tenancy, at the death of a joint tenant, the surviving joint tenant(s) acquire the ownership rights of the deceased joint tenant. State law rules often provide for specific words or phrases that must be used in a property title to create a joint tenancy, such as : ". . . to be held as joint tenants with right of survivorship."

Many states provide for a special form of joint tenancy that is available only for property held jointly by spouses, called tenancy by the entirety.