How can I change a deed from joint tenants to tenants in common?
Full Question:
Answer:
Typically, you cannot use a corrective deed to effectively change something material to the original deed. Material elements, such as how the grantees receive title, need to be changed through the use of a new deed.
As you know, tenants in common hold title to real or personal property so that each has an "undivided interest" in the property and all have an equal right to use the property. Tenants in common each own a portion of the property, which may be unequal, but have the right to possess the entire property. There is no "right of survivorship" if one of the tenants in common dies, and each interest may be separately sold, mortgaged or willed to another. A tenancy in common interest is distinguished from a joint tenancy interest, which passes automatically to the survivor. Upon the death of a tenant in common there must be a court supervised administration of the estate of the deceased to transfer the interest in the tenancy in common.
