Which form of co-ownership includes the right of survivorship and requires equal shares among owners?

• A. Tenancy in common
• B. Joint tenancy
• C. Ownership in severalty
• D. Community property with right of survivorship

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is the right of survivorship along with equal ownership shares among co-owners. In a joint tenancy, all owners hold equal, undivided interests created at the same time through the same title, giving each owner an equal share and the same right to possess the entire property. The crucial feature is survivorship: when one owner dies, that deceased owner’s interest doesn’t go to heirs or through a will, but automatically passes to the surviving joint tenants, who share the remaining interest equally. This combination of equal stakes and survivorship is what distinguishes joint tenancy from other forms of ownership.

Tenancy in common, for example, can involve unequal shares and carries no right of survivorship—the deceased’s share goes to heirs via will or intestacy. Ownership in severalty is sole ownership by one person. Community property with right of survivorship exists in certain states for married couples and does carry survivorship, but it’s typically limited to spouses and governed by specific community-property rules, not the general multi-owner scenario described here.