What does Tenants in Common mean?

Firstly, there is need to make a differentiation between tenants in common and joint tenants, as the two expressions tend to be used interchangeably by many people, although these are not. Tenants in common suppose that two persons for example own a property (husband and wife), with each holding a predefined share of it.

So, one might hold 40%, the other 60% of the same property, and if death of the one occurs, his/her share of the property comes under ownership of the person specified by him/her in the will for example. This is a delicate but useful situation of dealing with property ownership, especially if the married couple does not have children in common, but each has children from prior marriages; so, in order to avoid misunderstandings and eventual quarrels, by holding tenancy in common all the ownership problems are resolved.

Now, on the other hand, joint tenancy supposes sharing a property lets say the same 40%- 60%, but if one of the owner passes away, his/her share automatically comes under the ownership of the surviving partner, and no third parties can make claims to it.