Joint ownership – This legal term finds application in the sphere of Real Estate Law in many legal systems. There it details a situation which appears when two or more individuals are equal co-owners of a real estate. For any dealings with the estate, a mutual written agreement is required. The unique aspect of joint ownership is that as the joint tenancy owners decease, their ideal shares accrue to the other surviving co-owners. So that, at the end of the day, the entire property is owned by one person, where the right of survivorship applies. The joint tenancy requires the presence of “four unities”:
- Unity of interest (each joint owner must have an equal interest including equality of duration and extent),;
- Unity of title (the interests must arise from the same ownership document – a title deed or a contract);
- Unity of possession (each joint owner must have an equal right to possess the entire property) and
- Unity of time: the interests of the joint tenants must arise at the same moment.