On this pageJump to a main section
What this guide does
It explains the curriculum concept, applies it to New York scenarios and links the primary material used for regulated or date-sensitive claims. It is independent exam preparation, not legal, tax, lending, appraisal or eligibility advice.
For the New York salesperson exam, read the deed language, identify the owners' legal relationship, check for survivorship and then ask whether a later event changed the ownership form.
What is the fastest way to compare the three ownership forms?
| Question | Tenancy in common | Joint tenancy | Tenancy by the entirety |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who can hold it? | Two or more persons or entities capable of holding title | Two or more persons or entities capable of holding title | Spouses married to each other |
| New York default? | Yes, for a disposition to two or more persons unless another statutory rule or express declaration applies | No, it generally must be expressly declared | Yes, for a disposition of qualifying property to spouses unless the instrument expressly creates a joint tenancy or tenancy in common |
| Must shares be equal? | They may be equal or unequal | The interests must be equal in nature, extent and duration | Each spouse is treated as holding the whole estate, not a separate fractional share in the ordinary sense |
| Does each owner have possession of the whole? | Yes, subject to the equal possessory rights of the others | Yes | Yes |
| Is there survivorship? | No | Yes, while the joint tenancy remains intact | Yes, while the tenancy by the entirety remains intact |
| Can one owner transfer an interest alone? | The owner can generally transfer that owner's undivided share | A joint tenant can transfer or sever that tenant's interest | A spouse can transfer or encumber that spouse's own rights, but cannot unilaterally bind the entire fee or impair the other spouse's survivorship |
| What does divorce do? | The form is already tenancy in common | Divorce does not automatically sever an ordinary joint tenancy | Entry of a qualifying divorce judgment converts it to tenancy in common |
This table is an exam classification tool. The deed, later instruments, court orders, marital status and recording history control an actual title question.
Official source map
The New York State Department of State Real Estate Salesperson 77-Hour Curriculum places tenancy in common, joint tenancy, tenancy by the entirety, joint-tenancy termination, partition, survivorship, undivided interests and the four unities in Subject 3, Legal Issues.
Estates, Powers and Trusts Law section 6-2.1 classifies ownership by number of persons as severalty, joint tenancy, tenancy in common and, for qualifying real property and cooperative interests, tenancy by the entirety.
Estates, Powers and Trusts Law section 6-2.2 supplies New York's starting presumptions. A disposition to two or more persons creates a tenancy in common unless joint tenancy is expressly declared. A disposition of real property to spouses creates a tenancy by the entirety unless the instrument expressly declares joint tenancy or tenancy in common. The section also contains special rules for cooperative interests, fiduciaries, intestacy and grantees described as spouses who are not legally married to each other.
Real Property Law section 240-c states ways a joint tenant can unilaterally sever a joint tenancy in real property and the recording condition that applies to those statutory methods.
New York's official decisions apply those rules to concrete disputes. Myers v Bartholomew explains a tenant in common's right to possess the whole property. Smith v Bank of America, N.A. explains the four unities and holds that a mortgage alone did not sever the joint tenancy on the facts there. Ciaccio v Wright-Ciaccio applies the spousal presumption and survivorship of tenancy by the entirety.
What does co-ownership mean?
Co-ownership means that two or more persons hold interests in the same property at the same time. The property is not necessarily divided into physical pieces. A one-third undivided interest does not automatically give its owner the north bedroom or one-third of the backyard.
The word undivided means that the ownership share extends across the whole parcel. Possession is shared even when the economic shares differ. The owners can make an agreement about use, but that agreement is separate from the basic ownership classification.
The three core exam forms are:
- tenancy in common
- joint tenancy
- tenancy by the entirety
Severalty is ownership by one legal person or entity and will be treated with partition, trusts and business ownership in the next article.
What is tenancy in common?
Tenancy in common is concurrent ownership in which each co-owner holds a separate undivided interest and no automatic right of survivorship exists.
Its main features are:
- two or more co-owners
- one shared right of possession across the whole property
- equal or unequal ownership percentages
- separate, transferable undivided interests
- no automatic survivorship
- a deceased owner's interest can pass by will or intestacy
The only traditional unity required is unity of possession. The owners do not need to acquire their interests at the same time, under the same instrument or in equal percentages.
Review the sourced tenancy in common glossary page for the compact definition and exam cue.
When does New York presume tenancy in common?
Under Estates, Powers and Trusts Law section 6-2.2(a), a disposition of property to two or more persons creates a tenancy in common unless it expressly declares a joint tenancy. The spousal and fiduciary rules in the same statute are important exceptions.
Example:
A deed conveys a parcel “to Avery Chen and Morgan Reed” and says nothing else about the ownership form. The grantees are not spouses.
The New York starting rule is tenancy in common. Equal contributions, a close relationship or a shared address do not create survivorship by themselves.
The statute also says that property passing by intestacy to two or more people is taken as tenants in common. This is why multiple distributees can become co-owners without signing a deed together.
What special ownership rule applies to fiduciaries?
Estates, Powers and Trusts Law section 6-2.2(e) says that a disposition of property to two or more people as executors, trustees or guardians creates a joint tenancy. Their title is held in the stated fiduciary capacity, not as an ordinary beneficial gift to them personally.
This is a statutory exception to the general tenancy-in-common presumption. Read the capacity after each grantee's name. “To Dana and Lee” and “to Dana and Lee, as trustees” do not present the same facts.
Can tenants in common own unequal shares?
Yes. A deed can state percentages such as 70 percent and 30 percent. Both shares remain undivided, and both owners may possess the whole property subject to each other's rights.
If the instrument is silent, courts may apply a rebuttable presumption of equal shares. In McGuire v McGuire, the Appellate Division explained that the presumption can be rebutted and that a court acting in equity may consider the parties' contributions and other circumstances.
Do not turn that litigation rule into a shortcut for drafting or advising buyers. The deed should express the intended ownership, and the buyers' attorneys should address contributions, transfer rights and later sale arrangements.
Does a 25 percent tenant in common possess only 25 percent of the building?
No. The percentage describes the ownership interest, not a physical boundary. Each tenant in common has a right to possess and enjoy the whole property, provided that the owner does not improperly exclude the others.
The New York Court of Appeals explained in Myers v Bartholomew that each cotenant has an equal right to possess and enjoy all or any portion as if the sole owner. A co-owner who is not physically living there does not surrender the ownership or possessory right merely because another co-owner is in sole physical occupancy.
An agreement can allocate bedrooms, office floors, rental income or operating responsibilities. That agreement may regulate use without changing the deeded form of title.
What happens when a tenant in common dies?
The deceased owner's undivided share does not pass automatically to the surviving cotenants. It passes under a valid will, trust or other controlling estate arrangement, or under intestacy law when no controlling disposition applies.
Example:
Imani and Theo own a building as tenants in common. Imani dies and leaves her interest to Pilar in a valid will.
Pilar can succeed to Imani's undivided interest. Theo does not acquire Imani's share merely because he is the surviving co-owner.
This is the central contrast with joint tenancy and tenancy by the entirety. If the question says no right of survivorship, tenancy in common should be your first thought.
Can one tenant in common sell or mortgage an interest?
A tenant in common can generally convey or encumber that owner's own undivided interest, subject to applicable agreements and law. One cotenant acting alone cannot convey the other owners' shares.
Example:
Three investors hold 50 percent, 30 percent and 20 percent interests as tenants in common. The 20 percent owner sells that interest to a buyer.
The buyer ordinarily steps into that 20 percent undivided position and becomes a tenant in common with the other owners. The buyer does not receive a physically marked 20 percent of the land.
Real transactions can involve rights of first refusal, lender restrictions, tax consequences and operating agreements. A salesperson should identify the issue and direct the parties to their attorneys rather than interpret those documents.
What is joint tenancy?
Joint tenancy is concurrent ownership with equal rights of possession and a right of survivorship. It must be properly created and must remain unsevered for survivorship to operate at death.
Its main features are:
- two or more joint tenants
- equal interests in nature, extent and duration
- equal right to possess the whole
- the four traditional unities
- survivorship while the estate remains a joint tenancy
- the ability of one joint tenant to sever that tenant's interest through a valid method
New York does not infer joint tenancy merely because two buyers pay equally. Estates, Powers and Trusts Law section 6-2.2(a) calls for an express joint-tenancy declaration when the general rule applies.
Review the joint tenancy glossary page for the short definition and common mix-up.
What are the four unities of joint tenancy?
The traditional four unities are time, title, interest and possession.
| Unity | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Time | The joint tenants' interests begin at the same time |
| Title | The interests arise through the same instrument |
| Interest | The interests are identical in nature, extent and duration |
| Possession | Each joint tenant is entitled to possess the whole property |
The curriculum lists “unities of interest, possession, time and title.” The order does not matter. The substance does.
In Smith v Bank of America, the Appellate Division used these four unities to analyze whether one joint tenant's mortgage severed the joint tenancy. That case is a useful reminder that the mnemonic is not merely vocabulary. A change that destroys a required unity may affect the ownership form.
What does right of survivorship mean?
Survivorship means that, when a joint tenant dies while the joint tenancy remains intact, the deceased tenant's interest is absorbed by the surviving joint tenant or tenants by operation of the ownership form. It does not pass as that deceased tenant's separate share under a will.
Example:
Amara and Luis hold a parcel as joint tenants with right of survivorship. Amara signs a will leaving “my interest in the parcel” to Noor, but Amara dies without having severed the joint tenancy.
Luis takes through survivorship. The will cannot transfer an interest that ended at Amara's death.
The correct exam statement is conditional: survivorship applies if the joint tenancy was validly created and remained intact until death. Do not answer from the original deed alone when the question describes a later conveyance, severance instrument or court order.
How can a New York joint tenant sever the joint tenancy?
Real Property Law section 240-c recognizes other lawful severance methods and specifically permits unilateral severance of a joint tenancy in real property without the other joint tenants' consent through either:
- execution and delivery of a deed conveying the severing tenant's legal title to a third person; or
- execution of a written instrument showing intent to sever, including a deed naming the severing tenant as the direct grantee of that tenant's interest.
For severance under those statutory methods to terminate the nonsevering tenants' survivorship as to the severing tenant's interest, the deed or written instrument must be recorded before the severing tenant dies in the county where the real property is located.
The statute also preserves severance by a written instrument or agreement executed by all joint tenants, a deed from one joint tenant to another, or an order of a court with jurisdiction.
What happens after one of three joint tenants severs?
Suppose A, B and C hold equal interests as joint tenants. A validly severs A's interest.
- A generally holds a one-third interest as a tenant in common with B and C.
- B and C can retain survivorship between their remaining interests.
- A's death does not send A's severed share to B and C by the former joint tenancy.
This distinction follows Real Property Law section 240-c, which protects the survivorship rights of nonsevering joint tenants as between their interests. Severance of one share does not necessarily erase every survivorship relationship among all remaining owners.
Does one joint tenant's mortgage sever the joint tenancy?
Not by itself under the rule applied in Smith v Bank of America. New York treats a mortgage as a lien rather than a transfer of legal title. The Appellate Division held that the mortgage there did not destroy a unity and contained no language showing an intent to sever.
That result does not mean a mortgage can have no effect. It means that a mortgage alone is not automatically the same as a severing deed or written declaration of intent. Read the document and facts presented.
Exam trap:
“One joint tenant signs a mortgage” is not enough, standing alone, to conclude that the joint tenancy changed to tenancy in common.
Can a joint tenant transfer the whole property alone?
No. A joint tenant can transfer that tenant's own interest, not the interests belonging to the other joint tenants. A transfer of one share can sever that share and place the transferee in a tenancy-in-common relationship with the remaining owners.
To convey the complete title, all owners whose interests are being conveyed must participate or another lawful source of authority must apply.
What is tenancy by the entirety?
Tenancy by the entirety is a form of ownership available to spouses married to each other. Each spouse has a right to possession and survivorship, and New York treats the marital unit as holding the whole estate.
Its main features are:
- it depends on a qualifying marriage at the time of the disposition
- it applies to real property and, under the statute, certain cooperative shares with the appurtenant proprietary lease
- each spouse has a right to possession and profits
- neither spouse acting alone can bind the entire fee or destroy the other's survivorship
- the surviving spouse becomes sole owner when the other dies while the estate remains intact
- a qualifying divorce judgment converts it to tenancy in common
Use the tenancy by the entirety glossary page to review the definition separately from joint tenancy.
When does New York create tenancy by the entirety?
Estates, Powers and Trusts Law section 6-2.2(b) says that a disposition of real property to a husband and wife creates a tenancy by the entirety unless the instrument expressly declares a joint tenancy or tenancy in common. This article uses spouses when explaining that rule, while retaining the statute's current wording when describing the text.
The same statute extends the form to a disposition made on or after January 1, 1996, of cooperative apartment shares allocated to a unit together with the appurtenant proprietary lease.
Spouses can expressly choose a joint tenancy or tenancy in common instead. Resist the urge to assume every property owned by a married couple is held by the entirety. Inspect how title was taken.
What if grantees are described as spouses but are not legally married?
Estates, Powers and Trusts Law section 6-2.2(d) addresses this unusual fact. A disposition of qualifying real property or cooperative interests to people who are not legally married to one another but are described in the instrument as spouses, husbands or wives creates a joint tenancy unless the instrument expressly declares a tenancy in common.
It does not create tenancy by the entirety because the people are not legally married to each other. It also does not fall back automatically to tenancy in common because subsection (d) supplies a specific joint-tenancy rule.
This is a New York statutory detail, not a reason for a salesperson to investigate or characterize anyone's private relationship. The deed and attorney-led title process govern the transaction.
Does marriage convert an existing ownership form into tenancy by the entirety?
No automatic conversion follows merely because co-owners later marry. Tenancy by the entirety depends on the qualifying disposition and marital status when the interest is created. If two people already hold as joint tenants and then marry, the original joint tenancy does not change by itself.
They may change the form through a valid instrument with legal guidance. Do not relabel title based only on a later marriage.
What happens when one spouse dies?
If the spouses still hold as tenants by the entirety, the surviving spouse becomes sole owner by operation of law. The deceased spouse's will does not redirect a separate half-interest because the deceased spouse did not hold an independently devisable half in the ordinary tenancy-in-common sense.
In Ciaccio v Wright-Ciaccio, adult children claimed an interest after their father's death, but the deed had created a tenancy by the entirety with the surviving spouse. The court held that ownership passed automatically to the surviving spouse regardless of an alleged contrary desire or will.
Exam clue:
A will cannot defeat an existing entirety survivorship interest merely by naming a different recipient.
Can one spouse sell or mortgage an entirety interest alone?
One spouse may transfer, mortgage or otherwise encumber that spouse's own rights, but the act remains subject to the other spouse's continuing possession and survivorship. One spouse acting alone cannot convey the full estate, bind the other spouse's interest or impair the other spouse's survivorship.
This makes the transferee's or creditor's interest contingent on what happens later. If the nontransferring spouse survives, that spouse's survivorship can extinguish the interest derived solely from the deceased spouse. The exact consequences can be complex and title-specific.
For exam purposes, separate these statements:
- True: one spouse can affect that spouse's own contingent interest.
- True: both spouses ordinarily must join to transfer or mortgage the entire estate.
- False: one spouse's unilateral act erases the other spouse's possession or survivorship.
Can one spouse or that spouse's creditor force partition?
An involuntary partition is generally unavailable while the property remains held by the entirety. One spouse or an individual creditor cannot use ordinary partition to defeat the other spouse's entirety rights.
Spouses can agree to divide or partition property. General Obligations Law section 3-309 permits them to convey property directly to each other and to make a partition or division of real property held in common, jointly or by the entireties. New York decisions require a clear expression of intent before an agreement is treated as changing entirety ownership.
The mechanics and remedies of partition belong to the next article. Here, remember that ordinary unilateral joint-tenancy severance and involuntary partition of entirety property are not the same rule.
What does divorce do to tenancy by the entirety?
Entry of a qualifying divorce judgment converts tenancy by the entirety into tenancy in common. The former spouses then hold separate undivided interests without entirety survivorship, subject to the divorce judgment, equitable distribution and third-party rights.
Filing for divorce is not the same as entry of the final judgment. In Goldman v Goldman, the Court of Appeals explained that the spouses continued to hold by the entirety until the final divorce decree. A mortgage placed on one spouse's interest while the action was pending was not erased merely because the later judgment awarded the property to the other spouse.
Annulment or a judicial separation can also alter the marital legal relationship and convert the form, as the Court of Appeals described. A private separation agreement can require a separate analysis of its language and General Obligations Law section 3-309.
Does divorce automatically end an ordinary joint tenancy between spouses?
No. Divorce automatically converts tenancy by the entirety, not every joint tenancy held by two married people.
In Beudert-Richard v Richard, the Appellate Division explained that divorce does not automatically convert a married couple's joint tenancy to tenancy in common. A joint tenancy requires its own severance analysis.
Exam method:
- Identify the ownership form before the divorce.
- If it was tenancy by the entirety, apply the conversion rule.
- If it was joint tenancy, look for a severance instrument, agreement, conduct recognized by law or court order.
How do tenancy by the entirety and joint tenancy differ?
Both include possession and survivorship, but they are not interchangeable.
| Issue | Joint tenancy | Tenancy by the entirety |
|---|---|---|
| Eligible owners | Two or more persons | Spouses married to each other |
| Creation under general New York rule | Must generally be expressly declared | Presumed for a qualifying disposition to spouses unless another form is expressly declared |
| Conceptual shares | Equal joint interests | Each spouse is seized of the whole |
| Unilateral severance | A joint tenant can sever that tenant's interest through a lawful method | One spouse cannot unilaterally destroy the other spouse's entirety rights |
| Effect of divorce | No automatic severance merely because the joint tenants divorce | Converts to tenancy in common upon the qualifying judgment |
| Individual creditor | Can reach the debtor's joint interest, subject to survivorship and the state lien rules involved | Reaches only the debtor spouse's contingent rights and cannot impair the other spouse's possession or survivorship |
The ownership label matters more than the fact that the owners happen to be married.
Is New York a community-property state?
No. New York uses equitable distribution for marital property when a marriage ends. The New York Courts divorce property guidance explains that property is divided equitably, which does not necessarily mean equally. Community property is a different state-law system and is not a fourth way that a New York deed automatically holds title.
Do not mix marital classification for divorce with the form of title shown in a deed. Property can be marital property for equitable-distribution purposes while the deeded ownership form raises a separate title question.
What are the most common exam traps?
Assuming equal buyers are joint tenants
Equal contributions do not create survivorship. For two nonspouse grantees, New York's general default is tenancy in common unless joint tenancy is expressly declared.
Treating an undivided share as a physical room
A fractional interest extends through the whole property. It is not a mapped physical slice.
Sending a tenant-in-common share to the surviving co-owners
Tenancy in common has no automatic survivorship. The share passes through the deceased owner's estate plan or intestacy.
Sending an intact joint-tenancy share through a will
Survivorship controls if the joint tenancy remained intact. First check for a prior severance.
Treating a mortgage as automatic joint-tenancy severance
In New York, a mortgage is a lien. Smith held that the mortgage there did not sever the joint tenancy without language showing intent to sever.
Calling every married couple tenants by the entirety
Spouses can expressly hold as joint tenants or tenants in common. The deed and timing of the disposition matter.
Saying one spouse has an ordinary separate half-interest by the entirety
Tenancy by the entirety treats each spouse as seized of the whole and protects the other spouse's possession and survivorship.
Treating a pending divorce as a final conversion
The form continues until the legally operative event. A filed action alone is not the final judgment discussed in Goldman.
How can this appear in a scenario question?
Scenario 1: Silent deed to unmarried buyers
A deed names two unrelated buyers but says nothing about survivorship.
Start with tenancy in common under Estates, Powers and Trusts Law section 6-2.2(a).
Scenario 2: Unequal percentages
The deed states that one buyer owns 60 percent and the other owns 40 percent.
Tenancy in common fits unequal undivided shares. Both can still have a right to possess the whole.
Scenario 3: Will versus survivorship
A joint tenant signs a will leaving the interest to a sibling and then dies without severing.
The surviving joint tenant takes through survivorship. The will does not control the extinguished joint interest.
Scenario 4: Recorded self-conveyance
A joint tenant signs a deed naming that same person as direct grantee, clearly states an intent to sever and records before death.
Real Property Law section 240-c recognizes that statutory severance method. Survivorship no longer controls the severed share.
Scenario 5: Mortgage without severance language
One joint tenant gives a lender a mortgage, but the instrument contains no severance language.
Avoid assuming severance. Apply New York's lien theory and the Smith rule to the stated facts.
Scenario 6: Spousal deed
A deed conveys a home to two people legally married to each other and does not declare another form.
The New York presumption is tenancy by the entirety.
Scenario 7: Divorce judgment
Spouses hold by the entirety and a final divorce judgment is entered.
The ownership converts to tenancy in common, subject to the judgment and other rights.
Scenario 8: One spouse's deed
One spouse alone signs a deed purporting to transfer the entire marital home held by the entirety.
The spouse cannot unilaterally bind the entire fee or destroy the other spouse's survivorship. The instrument can affect only the interest the signing spouse can lawfully transfer.
What should a salesperson check in a real transaction?
A salesperson should not make the title determination. The practical role is to spot the issue and confirm that it reaches the attorneys and title professionals.
Useful questions include:
- How are the current owners named in the recorded deed?
- Does the deed expressly state tenancy in common, joint tenancy or tenancy by the entirety?
- Were the grantees legally married to each other when title was taken?
- Does a later recorded deed or severance instrument appear?
- Has an owner died, divorced, transferred an interest or entered into an agreement affecting title?
- Are there mortgages, judgments or other liens against one or more owners?
- Does a contract require all necessary owners to sign?
Do not promise that a will, divorce agreement, deed or lien produces a particular result. Title depends on the full record and governing law.
Use the Legal Issues study guide to connect co-ownership with estates, deeds, liens and title. Review fee simple, life estates and leasehold estates if the question first requires identifying the estate being shared.
What should I memorize?
Use this compact sequence:
- Tenancy in common: separate undivided shares, one unity of possession, no survivorship
- Joint tenancy: equal joint interests, four unities, survivorship until severed
- Tenancy by the entirety: married spouses, each seized of the whole, protected survivorship
- New York general default: tenancy in common for two or more grantees unless an express or special statutory rule changes the result
- Spousal default: tenancy by the entirety for a qualifying disposition unless another form is expressly declared
- Joint severance: valid method plus timely recording when Real Property Law section 240-c requires it
- Divorce: converts tenancy by the entirety to tenancy in common, but does not automatically sever an ordinary joint tenancy
Then ask: Who owns, who possesses, who survives and what later event may have changed the answer?
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between tenancy in common and joint tenancy?
Joint tenancy includes survivorship while intact. Tenancy in common does not, so a deceased tenant in common's share passes through that owner's estate.
Does New York presume joint tenancy for two buyers?
No. New York generally presumes tenancy in common unless joint tenancy is expressly declared, subject to specific statutory exceptions.
Can tenants in common own unequal shares?
Yes. Their economic shares may differ, while each retains an undivided right to possess the whole property.
Does a tenant in common's share pass to the other co-owners at death?
No automatic survivorship applies. The share passes under a valid estate arrangement or intestacy law.
What are the four unities of joint tenancy?
They are time, title, interest and possession.
Can one joint tenant sever a New York joint tenancy alone?
Yes. Real Property Law section 240-c recognizes unilateral methods, subject to its instrument, delivery and recording requirements.
Must a statutory severance instrument be recorded before death?
Yes, for the unilateral methods in section 240-c(1) to terminate the nonsevering tenants' survivorship as to that interest, recording must occur before the severing tenant's death.
Does one joint tenant's mortgage automatically sever the joint tenancy?
No. New York treats a mortgage as a lien, and a mortgage without severance language did not sever the joint tenancy in Smith v Bank of America.
Who can hold property as tenants by the entirety in New York?
Spouses legally married to each other can hold qualifying real property and certain cooperative interests in that form.
Can spouses choose tenancy in common instead?
Yes. A qualifying deed to spouses creates tenancy by the entirety by default, but the instrument can expressly declare tenancy in common or joint tenancy.
Does divorce end tenancy by the entirety?
Entry of a qualifying divorce judgment converts it to tenancy in common, subject to the judgment and other property rights.
Does divorce automatically sever a joint tenancy held by spouses?
No. Joint tenancy requires a separate severance analysis even when its joint tenants divorce.
Can one spouse mortgage the whole entirety property alone?
No. One spouse may affect that spouse's own contingent interest but cannot unilaterally bind the entire fee or impair the other spouse's possession and survivorship.
Is New York a community-property state?
No. New York follows equitable distribution for marital property and does not use community property as its ordinary title system.
Sources and verification notes
This article was checked against official sources available on August 27, 2026. It explains exam classifications and issue spotting. An attorney and the complete title record must resolve the ownership of an actual property.
- New York State Department of State, Real Estate Salesperson 77-Hour Curriculum. Subject 3 co-ownership forms, termination, partition, survivorship, undivided interests and four unities.
- New York Estates, Powers and Trusts Law section 6-2.1. Ownership classifications based on the number of owners.
- New York Estates, Powers and Trusts Law section 6-2.2. Statutory presumptions for common, joint and entirety ownership, cooperative interests, fiduciaries and intestacy.
- New York Real Property Law section 240-c. Joint-tenancy severance methods and recording requirement.
- New York General Obligations Law section 3-309. Direct spousal transfers and agreed partition or division.
- Myers v Bartholomew, 91 NY2d 630 (1998). Equal right of tenants in common to possess the whole and the effect of one cotenant's occupancy.
- McGuire v McGuire, 93 AD3d 701 (2012). Rebuttable equal-share presumption and equitable consideration of contributions.
- Smith v Bank of America, N.A., 103 AD3d 21 (2012). Four unities, New York lien theory and mortgage that did not sever the joint tenancy.
- Ciaccio v Wright-Ciaccio, 206 AD3d 912 (2022). Creation and survivorship of tenancy by the entirety.
- Goldman v Goldman, 95 NY2d 120 (2000). Entirety rights during a pending divorce and conversion upon the final decree.
- Beudert-Richard v Richard, 72 AD3d 101 (2010). Divorce does not automatically convert an ordinary joint tenancy into tenancy in common.
- New York Courts, Divorce Frequently Asked Questions. Equitable distribution of marital property in New York.
Continue with the next article on severalty, partition, trusts and business ownership to learn how ownership begins with one titleholder, ends through division or sale, or is held through another legal structure.
Continue learning
Related guides for your next question.
Legal issues
New York Real Property, Personal Property, Fixtures and Trade Fixtures
Learn how New York classifies real property, personal property, fixtures and trade fixtures through clear tests, examples and exam scenarios.
Read the related guideLegal issues
Fee Simple, Life Estates and Leasehold Estates in New York
Compare fee simple, defeasible fees, life estates, future interests and leasehold estates using current New York law and exam scenarios.
Read the related guideLegal issues
What Makes a Deed Valid in New York?
Learn the New York deed requirements for parties, intent, description, signature, delivery, acceptance, acknowledgment and recording.
Read the related guidePractice the rule without the article open.
Use the free web sampler for one question from each curriculum subject, or continue in the mobile app for repeated practice across the full question bank.