Also known as: tenants by the entirety · tenancy by the entirety · tenancy by the entireties · entirety tenancy
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A concurrent estate in land held by a married couple featuring an indestructible right of survivorship. Each spouse owns the whole estate rather than a separate share. The form prevents unilateral conveyance, encumbrance, or devise by either spouse and passes full title to the survivor by operation of law upon the death of one.
Owen and Maria held their farmhouse as tenants by the entirety. During divorce negotiations Owen executed a will leaving the farm to his nephew Leo. Owen died while still married and before any decree or deed severed the estate. Title passed automatically to Maria by survivorship and Leo took nothing under the will.
Vincent conveyed land to Pamela and George, husband and wife, and the heirs of their bodies so long as the property remained a family-run eatery. The deed satisfied the statutory conditions for creating a tenancy by the entirety in a jurisdiction recognizing fee tail estates. The couple therefore held an indestructible estate protected from unilateral partition.
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Avery and Mark held a crane as tenants by the entirety and rented it to third parties while splitting gross receipts. They maintained entirely separate construction businesses and never pooled profits or liabilities from those operations. The arrangement created only co-ownership of property and did not establish a partnership.
Mackenzie conveyed a laboratory to Jackson and Spencer, husband and wife, and a designated class of their issue entering the pharmaceutical field. State law expressly recognized tenancy by the entirety as a permitted concurrent estate. The deed therefore created that protected form of ownership between the spouses.
Jackson and Spencer held the laboratory as tenants by the entirety. Each spouse possessed the same statutory power to compel partition that an owner of a fee simple absolute estate would enjoy in the same jurisdiction, subject to the protections of the marital estate.
Renee and her husband received property under a deed that created a tenancy by the entirety. While the marital unity remained intact Renee could not compel partition, but the estate carried the same underlying partition power that fee-simple owners possess once the form is lawfully severed.
No. A will controls only probate property. When spouses hold land as tenants by the entirety the interest of the deceased spouse is extinguished at death and full title passes automatically to the survivor by operation of law. The will has no effect on the property so long as the tenancy remains intact.
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No. Filing alone does not destroy the estate. Severance requires a final divorce decree, a joint conveyance, or another legally effective act that changes the form of title before death. Until that occurs the right of survivorship remains in force.
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Generally no while the marriage continues. The estate protects the property from unilateral partition or alienation. After divorce the interests convert to a tenancy in common and either former spouse may then compel partition under the same rules that apply to fee simple owners.
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No. The Uniform Partnership Act expressly provides that joint tenancy, tenancy in common, or tenancy by the entireties does not establish a partnership even when the co-owners share profits from the property. Additional facts showing an agreement to carry on a business as co-owners for profit are required.
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…Sawadas appeal. I The determinative question in this case is, whether the interest of one spouse in real property, held in tenancy by the entireties, is subject to levy and execution by his or her individual creditors. This issue is one of first impression in this jurisdiction. A brief review of the present state of the tenancy by the…