Jo and Jordan have recently married.

Jo and Jordan should generally hold the cottage as tenants in common because each wants his or her ownership interest ultimately to pass to the respective children from a previous marriage.

Under a tenancy in common, each co-owner holds a distinct undivided interest in the property. That interest forms part of the owner's estate at death and can therefore be transferred under a will to designated beneficiaries. The ownership percentages can also be equal or unequal depending on how the acquisition is structured.

A joint tenancy produces a fundamentally different estate-planning consequence because it normally carries a right of survivorship. When one joint tenant dies, the deceased owner's interest ordinarily passes automatically to the surviving joint tenant rather than through the deceased's estate. That structure could frustrate Jo and Jordan's objective because the surviving spouse could ultimately obtain the entire cottage, leaving the deceased spouse's children without the intended property interest.

“Freehold” and “fee simple” describe forms or quality of ownership rather than the appropriate co-ownership arrangement between the spouses.

Therefore, tenancy in common provides the control and testamentary flexibility required in this blended-family situation.

FPII reference/topic: Estate Planning — property ownership; joint tenancy versus tenancy in common; right of survivorship; blended-family estate planning.

===============