Which feature distinguishes Joint Tenancy from Tenancy in Common?

• A. Right of survivorship, where surviving co-tenant automatically acquires the deceased's interest.
• B. Co-owners hold separate, unequal shares.
• C. A single co-tenant can transfer sole interest without affecting others.
• D. There is a right to exclusive possession by one tenant.

Answer: (A)

The key idea here is the right of survivorship. In a joint tenancy, when one co-owner dies, the deceased’s interest automatically passes to the surviving co-owners, so they end up with the whole property together. This survivorship feature comes from the four unities—time, title, interest, and possession—that must be present for a joint tenancy to exist. In contrast, tenancy in common has no survivorship: co-owners can hold unequal shares, and a deceased owner's interest goes to heirs or via a will, not automatically to the others. It’s worth noting that a single co-owner could transfer their share, and in a joint tenancy that transfer can break the joint tenancy for that portion (creating a tenancy in common with the remaining co-owners), whereas in tenancy in common the transfer doesn’t affect the others’ right to their own shares.