American Property Law,

In the Common Law System, the concurrent ownership refers to situation in which two or more persons simultaneously have equal right in the possession and use of land or chattels.In the US law, there are following forms of concurrent ownership: joint tenancy, tenancy in common, tenancy by entirety, community property, tenancy in partnership, condominium and time sharing arrangement. This article will focus on joint tenancy, tenancy in common, tenancy by entirety and community property.1. Joint Tenancy.The followings are the characteristics of joint tenancy:The joint tenancy shall bear four unities of time, title, interest and possession.On the one hand, the joint tenant has an undivided share of the tenancy and will only receive only the portion of the property which correspond to that fractional share when the joint tenancy is terminated; on the other hand, each joint tenant also holds the entire property and is entitled to possess and enjoy the entire estate.The survivorship makes the joint tenant who survives the other cotenants takes the entire estate and the estates of the deceased joint tenants have no interest.Each cotenant may sever the joint tenancy by the act that is inconsistent with the continued existence of the joint tenancy, thus effects conversion of joint tenancy into a tenancy in common and destruction of the right of survivorship.The rules of partition of tenancy in common are applicable to the partition of joint tenancy.Upon the death of all but one joint tenant, the survivor takes the whole estate and the joint tenancy is terminated.2. Tenancy in Common.The chief attribute of a tenancy in common is unity of possession by two or more owners, that is, the unity of possession. All the cotenants share a single right to possession of the entire estate and each cotenant has a separate claim to a fractional share of the property interest, such shares are referred to as "undivided shares", that is, they are not assigned to any particular portion of the property.In the Civil Law System, there is the concept of quota, which is used in the communion by severalty.The quota means the portion by which the joint owner enjoys his/her ownership against the property.The Common Law System and the Civil Law System both regard the ownership owned by the cotenants as a whole, and what each cotenant enjoys is the portion of the ownership; in the meantime, the portions are not divided before the partition and no cotenants can assume rights against any particular portion of the property.The undivided fractional shares held by tenants in common are usually equal and are presumed equal by law unless contradictory evidences are produced.The interest of a tenant in common is as fully alienable as any other property interest and transfer does not require consent of cotenants.Possession by one cotenant is deemed possession by all. Each cotenant has the right to use and enjoy the entire property as if s/he were the sole owner, limited only by the same right in the other cotenants.Generally, the cotenant has no duty to account to the others for his own use or for any income received for use of the property.The cotenant has the right to require the other cotenants to share the costs for repairs and improvements.Each cotenants has the power to protect the property, transact with other cotenants, sell and encumber the interest.Partition means the division of the property into the cotenants' respective fractional shares.Each cotenants has the right to initiate the judicial partition.3. Tenancy by the Entirety.The tenancy by the entirety shall possess the same four unities of joint tenancy, in addition, the unity of person achieved by the lawful marriage. The tenancy by the entirety is similar to the joint tenancy, only neither party can require the partition of the property, the cotenancy only terminate upon the termination of the marriage.The tenancy by the entirety possess the following characteristics:[1] Entirety property may not be partitioned or...