What Is A Concurrent Estate In Real Estate?

What Is A Concurrent Estate In Real Estate?

Concurrent estate or co-tenancy in property law refers to the ownership of a property by more than one person at the same time. These co-owners are commonly referred to as co-tenants or joint tenants, with joint tenancy indicating a right of survivorship.

Most common law jurisdictions acknowledge tenancies in common and joint tenancies, and some also recognize tenancies by the entirety, which is a joint tenancy between married couples.

The type of co-ownership does not impact the ability of co-owners to sell their fractional interest in the property, but it can affect their power to will the property upon death. However, a joint tenant can change this by severing the joint tenancy. Laws may vary by jurisdiction, and this general discussion may not be applicable in all areas.

Co-owners typically have no responsibility to pay for any changes or upgrades to the property. If one co-owner chooses to make improvements that increase the value of the property they cannot demand that the other co-owners contribute to the cost of those improvements, even if the other co-owners benefit from them.

However, if the co-owners improvements increase the value of the property, they are entitled to recoup their costs when the property is partitioned.

On the other hand if the co-owners improvements decrease the value of the property, they are held accountable for that decrease.

Types Of Concurrent Estates

A concurrent estate is an ownership of a shared property between multiple parties. The three main types of concurrent derivatives are joint tenancy, tenancy in common, and tenancy by the entirety.

Joint tenancy is when two or more people own undivided shares of real estate and have the right of survivorship, meaning if one person dies, their share goes to the remaining owners.

Tenancy in common is a form of co-ownership where each person holds an individually transferable interest in a property. Owners can have varying percentages of ownership (e.g. one person owns 20%, another owns 25%, and a third owns 55%) and there is no right of survivorship, meaning if one tenant dies, their share does not automatically go to the other tenants.

Tenancy by the entirety is a type of joint property ownership only available to married couples, where both partners are considered a single entity. Upon the passing of one spouse, the surviving spouse automatically becomes the sole owner of the property.

This is known as the right of survivorship. It’s important to note that not all states recognize this type of ownership.

In essence, it is a form of joint possession of real property where both partners can possess and use all of the property and neither partner can sell any part of it without the other’s consent. It is similar to creating a joint tenancy but with the added requirement of being married.

Rights And Obligations Of Parties In A Concurrent Estate

When it comes to a concurrent estate, rights and obligations of parties can vary depending on the kind of estate. Under common law, co-owners have certain rights by default, including the right to unrestricted property access, the right to an accounting of profits made from the property, and the right of contribution for costs associated with owning the property.

Suppose one co-owner wrongfully excludes another from using the shared property. In that case, the excluded co-owner can take legal action for ouster, and the court may award them with the fair rental value of the property for the time they were excluded.

Additionally, each owner is entitled to their pro-rata share of any income generated from the property, such as rent or farming.

All co-owners are also required to contribute to expenses such as property taxes, necessary maintenance and repairs, or mortgages for the entire property.

Termination Of A Concurrent Estate

A concurrent estate, or co-ownership, is an arrangement that allows two or more parties to have a shared interest in a property. However, it may come to an end if one of the party wishes to terminate their appreciation.

This termination can be done through a deed transfer from the terminating party, where all rights and interests for the respective co-owner on the deed are terminated. All parties are expected to agree by signing before this termination can take effect.

By doing so, both parties must come to an agreement as to who will pay any taxes and other fees resulting from the change of ownership over their shared asset.