We just had our first offer for a resale contract accepted. Looking at the vesting question, I'm not sure which is the best option...we are married and it will be in both our names and would want to to automatically transfer to the other should one of die. In reading it looks like "joint tenants with full rights of survivorship" or "tenants by the entirety" would be the choices but I'm not really sure what the difference is and which is the right choice.
"Joint tenants with full rights of survivorship" means you each own half and the survivor gets the other half automatically when one person is gone.
"Tenants by the entirety" is similar but you both technically own the whole thing concurrently.
I believe most do joint with survivorship rights, primarily because only certain states recognize the other. And, either way you both get full membership rights anyway, so there's no difference from that standpoint.
Not correct. Married couples almost all do tenancy by the entirety. That is true of DVC in Florida and for homes in Florida. It is the same as joint tenancy with right of survivorship, except it adds one more level of protection -- with tenancy by the entirety creditors of either owner cannot force a sale of the property to pay off the debts of one (if just joint tenancy they can). As to recognition in other states, there are many states that have tenancy by the entirety and under the law of all of them whether the propery is subject to the rights one has with tenancy by the entirety is determined by the law of the state where the property is not the state where the owners may live, i.e., a state that does not have tenancy by the entirety will still apply it in any dispute in that state over property that is in Florida.
Thus, you should elect tenancy by the entirety if married. The deed will show tenancy by the entirety by simply putting your names as the purchasers followed by the words "husband and wife," which is Florida's method of showing tenancy by the entirety on the deed.
Thanks for this thread. I just checked our and had selected the wrong one. Luckily its early enough in the process to change it and picked tenancy by entirety.
I had also emailed the broker to ask what is most common and he got back to me this morning and said joint tenants with full rights of survivorship is the most common.
