Married Couples and Property Conveyances
In Florida, married couples enjoy certain protections on real and personal property when they take title in it together. The law actually presumes to hold most property taken out during the marriage as an estate by the entireties, unless the title or instrument states otherwise.
Tenancy by the entirety is only available for married couples and is a fancy way of saying that when one spouse dies, the other gets the property and vice versa. Basically, it says there is a right of surviviorship attached and the property cannot be divided. Each spouse owns the estate as a whole. Right of survivorship is also a feature of joint tenancies, but a joint tenancy can be terminated much easier than an estate by the entireties.
There are also protections in case one spouse tries to convey the property held by tenancy in the entirety to a third party. Tenancy by the entireties can only be terminated or downgraded to tenancies in common if it is mutually agreed upon by both spouses. The "innocent" spouse who was unaware of the conveyance is not bound by or liable to the conveyance.
Common examples where an estate by the entireties will terminate, include, when both spouses agree to co-sign on a mortgage or hold a joint checking account specifically as joint tenants as opposed to tenants in the entirety. Joint tenancies on property can be reduced to a tenancy in common if one spouse conveys his or her interest in the property, even without the other tenant's consent.
For more information about the different tenancies, contact our Jacksonville estate planning law firm.
