co-ownership

Co-ownership, in law, refers to a situation where multiple individuals possess an undivided ownership interest in a single property. This is common when property is inherited by siblings or when an owner sells or gifts a portion of their property to a group.1

In Anglo-American legal systems, the most common forms are joint tenancy and tenancy in common. Both grant each co-owner the right to possess and use the entire property. If agreement on usage isn't reached, a court can order partition or sale of the property, with proceeds divided among the co-owners. The key difference lies in succession: in joint tenancy, the deceased's share passes to surviving joint tenants, while in tenancy in common, it goes to the deceased's heirs. Civil law systems have a similar concept to tenancy in common, but typically do not allow for automatic succession of shares among co-owners.1