By: Ned Hale, Attorney/Owner at Hale Law Group, P.A., Fort Myers, FL Board Certified in Real Estate by the Florida Bar
Advantages:
-Easy. No documents to prepare. This is the “default” ownership method when two or more people jointly own real estate.
-Ownership shares can be unequal—i.e., one person can own, say, 60% and the other 40% of the property. And they can take title by different deeds.
-All owners, regardless of ownership share, have the right to occupy the entire property (called “undivided ownership”).
-If one owner pays more than his or her share of real estate taxes or maintenance, he or she is entitled to a reimbursement from the other owners.
-Each owner’s ownership share passes according to his or her will, not to the other owners (i.e., no right of survivorship).
Disadvantages:
-No asset protection—creditors can seize an owner’s interest in a property unless it is homesteaded.
-Majority rule does not apply. One holdout tenant can stop a sale of the entire property or prevent improvements to the property, unless the other tenants file an expensive and time consuming partition lawsuit.
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