Joint tenancy or tenants in common: how should co-owners hold title in BC?

In plain English

When two or more people buy together, the transfer registered at the Land Title Office records how they hold title.

The two common forms are joint tenancy and tenancy in common, and the choice has consequences that last long after completion.

In a joint tenancy, the owners share one and the same interest.

The Land Title Practice Manual describes a true joint tenancy as requiring identical interests: the same title, acquired at the same time, through the same transfer, with the same undivided possession.

The defining feature is survivorship: when a joint tenant dies, the survivors take the deceased owner’s interest.

That survivorship is completed through the land title system. BC’s land title office’s Transmission to Surviving Joint Tenant application bundles a property transfer tax return, a Land Title application and a Land Owner Transparency Act declaration. The tax return automatically claims exemption code 08, survivorship, which exempts the transfer from property transfer tax, though not from the additional tax for foreign entities.

In a tenancy in common, each owner holds their own share.

BC’s land title office explains that when a tenant in common dies, that person’s share goes to their heirs, not to the surviving co-owners. BC’s land title office also notes that joint tenancy must be stated on the transfer document and on the title; otherwise co-ownership becomes a tenancy in common.

Ask your lawyer or notary what that means for wills and probate in your situation.

A joint tenancy can end without everyone agreeing.

Under the Property Law Act a joint tenant can transfer their interest to themselves, and that has the same effect of severing the joint tenancy as a transfer to a stranger.

The Practice Manual notes the registrar requires a severance before registering a mortgage given by only one joint tenant, and that court decisions have found various documents severed a joint tenancy.

There are also survival rules.

Under the Wills, Estates and Succession Act, if joint tenants die at the same time, or within five days of each other, each is treated as having held the property as a tenant in common.

Changing between the two forms with the same owners and the same interests can use property transfer tax exemption code 16.

How it works

1. 01

   Decide before you sign the transfer

   Tell your lawyer or notary how you want to hold title well before completion so the transfer is prepared correctly.

2. 02

   Match the choice to your plans

   Spouses, family members and investment partners often have different goals. Discuss survivorship, unequal contributions and what happens if someone wants out.

3. 03

   Say it on the transfer

   Joint tenancy has to be stated on the transfer document and the title. If it is not, BC’s land title office says the co-ownership becomes a tenancy in common.

4. 04

   Put a co-ownership agreement in writing

   Agree on expenses, a sale, and buy-outs in a separate agreement prepared with legal advice.

5. 05

   Know the process after a death

   A surviving joint tenant files a transmission with BC’s land title office, including the property transfer tax return and transparency declaration.

6. 06

   Check tax points when selling

   Under the BC home flipping tax, each of two joint tenants is treated as disposing of a 50% beneficial interest, and each may need to file.

Common mistakes

• Leaving the form of ownership unstated on the transfer and ending up with a tenancy in common by default.
• Assuming a will can leave a joint tenancy interest to someone else. Survivorship generally passes it to the other joint tenants unless the joint tenancy was severed.
• Adding someone to title without legal and tax advice about the consequences.
• Not checking how title is held when buying a property with existing co-owners.
• Forgetting that one joint tenant mortgaging their interest can sever the joint tenancy.