In a Sale
What This Means When the House Is Being Sold
This is the ownership form that most often lands inherited property in probate rather than letting it skip it. Where siblings inherit a house as tenants in common, each one's share passes through their own individual estate when they die, rather than automatically consolidating with the others the way joint tenancy would.
Selling requires every owner's agreement and signature, and where co-owners disagree about selling, holding, or price, there is no built-in mechanism to force a resolution short of a partition action. Unequal shares are also common, and any sale needs to account for exactly how proceeds divide.
Compare
Not to Be Confused With
- This TermTenancy in Common
- Often Mistaken ForJoint Tenancy
- Often Mistaken ForRight of Survivorship
- Often Mistaken ForPartition Action
What Tells Them Apart
Tenancy in common gives each owner a separate, individually inheritable share, unlike joint tenancy, which carries an automatic right of survivorship instead. Right of Survivorship is the specific feature tenancy in common lacks. Partition Action is the legal remedy available when co-owners under a tenancy in common cannot agree on what to do with the property.
Questions
Questions People Ask
Do all owners have to agree to sell a property held as tenants in common?
Yes, ordinarily every owner's agreement and signature are needed to sell. Where co-owners cannot reach agreement, a partition action is the legal remedy that can force a sale or division of the property through the court, though it is slower and more expensive than a cooperative sale.
What happens to a tenant in common's share when they die?
It passes through that individual owner's own estate, to their own heirs or beneficiaries, rather than automatically to the other co-owners the way it would under joint tenancy. This is often how a property that started with two owners ends up with several, sometimes across multiple generations.