Jointly owned residential or commercial property is residential or commercial property owned by more than someone. It is generally not included in the estate of a decedent. Examples of collectively owned individual residential or commercial property are if you and another individual are both noted on the title of a car or if you have a joint savings account. If the other individual passes away, you instantly have full ownership of that residential or commercial property.

Sometimes joint ownership is more intricate. If you owned genuine residential or commercial property with a decedent, or if you own any residential or commercial property with a decedent and somebody else, ownership can be tough to understand after a death.

In Michigan, you can collectively own residential or commercial property in 4 ways:

- Tenants in common

- Joint tenants

- Joint renters with complete rights of survivorship

- Tenants by the entireties


All 4 kinds of joint residential or commercial property leave the making it through owner with different rights. When dealing with complicated joint residential or commercial property scenarios, you may want to talk with a lawyer. Use the Guide to Legal Help to find a lawyer or legal services in your location.

Survivorship and the 120-Hour Rule

Survivorship (outlasting your co-owner) impacts more than just the 4 kinds of collectively owned residential or commercial property. It can also impact inheritance rights of beneficiaries and devisees. In Michigan, a person must live more than 120 hours after their co-owner dies for the survivorship rights to work. Generally, anybody who passes away during the very first 120 hours after a decedent's death is considered to have predeceased (died before) the decedent. When that occurs, they lose their interest in the decedent's residential or commercial property. As an outcome, this individual's heirs and devisees will not receive a share in the decedent's residential or commercial property. The 120-hour guideline is not followed if:

- A will, deed, title, or trust addresses synchronised deaths or deaths in a typical disaster;

- A will, deed, title, or trust specifies a person is not required to make it through for a certain amount of time or it defines a different survival period;

- The guideline would impact interests secured by Michigan law; or

- The rule would cause a failure or duplication in distributing residential or commercial property.


Tenants in Common (Real Residential Or Commercial Property)

A tenancy in typical is produced when real residential or commercial property is conveyed (transferred) to 2 or more people who are not married to each other, and there is no recommendation to joint occupancy or right of survivorship. All of the tenants in typical have an equivalent right to use or occupy the whole residential or commercial property so long as the occupancy stays intact. Once an occupant dies or sells their share, the staying occupants are entitled just to their fractional share. Each tenant's share passes to their estate when they die; there is no survivorship right.

Bob, Mary, and Kelly own a cottage together as occupants in typical. Mary passes away. Her 1/3 share of the home goes to her estate, not to Bob and Kelly. Bob and Kelly each own 1/3 shares of the home.

Joint Tenants (Real and Personal Residential Or Commercial Property)

A joint occupancy is produced when residential or commercial property is collectively communicated to 2 or more people. With genuine residential or commercial property, the conveyance (normally a deed) need to specifically mention joint tenancy. However, when two people are noted on financial accounts (bank, credit, or savings), or when they are listed on a vehicle title, they instantly own the residential or commercial property collectively. If the expression "Full Rights To Survivor" appears on account documents or lorry title, the ownership right becomes a survivorship right when one of the joint occupants dies. This indicates the enduring joint tenant takes full ownership. If that expression does not appear, then the residential or commercial property will either be probated with the rest of the deceased person's estate, or it will be divided between that individual's next-of-kin (successors).

Mary and Kelly have an automobile that is collectively entitled in their names with the expression "Full Rights To Survivor" written on it. Kelly dies. Mary now automatically owns the car, even if Kelly's estate is going through the probate process.

Real residential or commercial property is more complicated. If the residential or commercial property is conveyed only as a joint occupancy- without any reference of a right of survivorship- the survivorship right can be severed by the owners. A single tenant could sell their interest in the residential or commercial property. Or, all of the occupants might agree to sever the joint occupancy, making it a tenancy in common. (See the above section on Tenants in Common).

Bob, Mary, and Kelly own a cottage together as joint occupants. Kelly sells her 1/3 share of the residential or commercial property to John. This destroys her joint occupancy share and transforms it into a tenancy in common. Mary dies (with her joint tenancy with Bob intact). Her 1/3 share goes to Bob and not to her estate or John. If John passed away, his share would go to his estate.

Joint Tenants with Full Rights of Survivorship (Real Residential Or Commercial Property)

A joint occupancy with full rights of survivorship is created when genuine residential or commercial property is conveyed to two or more people, and the conveying file (usually a deed) specifically points out survivorship. When a joint renter dies, their share passes to the staying renters. No owner can sell or transfer their interest in the residential or commercial property without the approval of the other joint tenants.

Here is an example:

Bob, Mary, and Kelly own a cottage together as joint tenants with complete rights of survivorship. Mary dies. Bob and Kelly now own the entire cottage. Mary's estate gets no share of the home.

Tenancy by the Entirety (Real and Personal Residential Or Commercial Property)

An occupancy by the entirety is developed when residential or commercial property is communicated to a couple at the exact same time. It is not necessary for the conveyance (typically a deed) to discuss the development of an occupancy by the entirety, or to refer to the married couple as such. So long as the conveyance was to partners who were wed to each other at that time, an occupancy by the entirety was created.

This kind of occupancy is generally genuine residential or commercial property. But there are some instances when a tenancy by the whole can include individual residential or commercial property, such as stock certificates.

The partners each have a survivorship right, and each is presumed to own the entire residential or commercial property. Neither can offer or transfer their interest in the residential or commercial property without the other's approval. Creditors of one partner can not put a lien on the residential or commercial property. However, if both spouses are responsible for the very same debt, the lender can reach the residential or commercial property.