There are mainly three types of ownership that are used commonly for residential properties: community property, joint tenancy and tenancy in common. Please note that when you buy a property, the type of ownership you select has ramifications on your taxes. Please consult your tax consultant or an attorney before you make a selection.

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Community property is a form of ownership, where property acquired after marriage is owned jointly and equally by the husband and wife. State of California, along with some other Western & Southwestern states enforce this form of ownership.

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Since husband & wife have equal control of the property, any time if one of them wants to hand over his/her share of interest to a third party, the other spouse must approve. The spouses can have their share given to anyone they want in a will. If one spouse dies without a will, the other spouse owns the entire property automatically and the children get none.

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Joint tenancy is a type of ownership taken by two or more people, who have equal amount of interest and rights in the property. One of the main right the joint tenants have is the right of survivorship, where upon death of one joint tenant, the ownership interest passes to the surviving joint tenants, rather than to the heirs of the deceased. Therefore an involvement of probate court is not required.

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Tenancy in common is a type of ownership taken by two or more people, who can have unequal amount of interest in the property, but have the right to use the entire property. Tenants in common do not have the right of survivorship. Therefore, upon death of one of the tenants in common, his/her ownership interest passes to his/her heir(s) and not to the co-owners. Therefore, an involvement of probate court is required.

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