Section 11 of the Property Law Act treats land transferred to two or more people as a tenancy in common unless a contrary intention appears in the instrument. Joint tenancy is the alternative, registered under section 177 of the Land Title Act. Most families should know which one they are choosing and why, because the default is not always what they want and the choice is easy to make by accident.
The short version
- Tenants in common each hold a distinct share, which can be unequal, sold separately and left by will.
- Joint tenants hold together with a right of survivorship: on a death, the surviving owner takes the whole interest.
- British Columbia's Property Law Act presumes tenancy in common unless the transfer shows a contrary intention.
- Shares should be recorded on the transfer at purchase, and repeated in a co-ownership agreement.
- How title is held and who is on the mortgage are separate questions, and lenders have views on both.
Tenancy in common, in plain terms
As tenants in common, each owner holds a defined share of the home. The shares can be equal or unequal. A household putting in more money can hold a larger share, which is the ordinary way families reflect unequal contributions.
Each share behaves like a piece of property in its own right. An owner can leave their share by will to whoever they choose. An owner can, in principle, sell or mortgage their share, though in practice selling a partial interest in a family home is difficult and a co-ownership agreement usually restricts it.
This is the structure most families want when two households are contributing different amounts and each wants their contribution to end up with their own children. It is also the structure the law gives you by default: under section 11 of the Property Law Act, a transfer to two or more people creates a tenancy in common unless a contrary intention appears.
Joint tenancy, and the thing it does
Joint tenants do not hold separate shares. They hold the whole together, and the defining feature is the right of survivorship: when one joint tenant dies, the surviving joint tenant takes the whole interest automatically. It does not pass through the will, and the deceased owner cannot leave it to anybody else.
For a married or long term couple this is usually exactly what they want, which is why joint tenancy is common between spouses. For a parent and an adult child it can produce a result nobody intended. If a parent and one child hold as joint tenants and the parent dies, that child takes the whole interest, and the parent's other children receive nothing from it regardless of what the will says.
That outcome is sometimes deliberate and it is often a surprise. If your family is holding title jointly, everybody affected should understand what happens on a death before the transfer is signed, not afterwards.
| Tenants in common | Joint tenancy | |
|---|---|---|
| Shares | Distinct, and may be unequal | Held together, not divided |
| On the death of an owner | The share passes under their will | The surviving owner takes the whole interest |
| Selling a share | Possible in principle, usually restricted by agreement | Selling severs the joint tenancy |
| Which applies by default | This one, under Property Law Act section 11 | Only if the transfer shows that intention |
| Usually suits | Two households contributing different amounts | Spouses and long term partners |
Sources: Property Law Act section 11 and Land Title Act section 177, BC Laws, accessed 29 August 2026. This describes the general structure and is not advice on your own transfer.
Recording unequal shares properly
If contributions are unequal and you intend the ownership to reflect that, the shares have to be written down in two places: on the transfer registered at the land title office, and in a co-ownership agreement between you.
The transfer is what the world sees. The agreement is where you record why, and what happens next. A good agreement says what each household paid at the start, how monthly costs are divided, what happens to the shares if one household later pays for a major repair, how a sale is triggered and how a buyout is valued.
Families often skip this because the arrangement seems obvious to everybody involved. It is obvious right up until somebody dies, separates or has to move for work, and at that point the only version that counts is the written one.
- State the shares on the transfer at the time of purchase
- Sign a co-ownership agreement before completion, not after
- Record what each household contributed in cash, and what came from a mortgage
- Set out how a buyout is valued, and who chooses the valuer
- Say what happens if one household pays more than its share of a repair
- Review the agreement whenever a will or a family situation changes
Title, mortgage and your will are three separate documents
It is worth separating these clearly, because families routinely assume one of them takes care of the others.
Title says who owns the home. The mortgage says who owes the money, and lenders generally want everyone on title to be on the mortgage. Your will says where your property goes when you die, and it has no effect at all on a joint tenancy, because the survivor takes the interest before the will operates.
So a family that holds as joint tenants and then writes careful wills dividing the home between several children has written a will that cannot do what it says. If that describes your situation, the fix is a change to how title is held, made while everybody is around to agree to it. Ask your lawyer at the time of purchase and the whole issue never arises.
How this looks when there are more than two owners
Families sometimes end up with three or four names on a title: two parents and two adult children, or two siblings and a spouse. The rules do not change, and the consequences get harder to keep track of.
As tenants in common, four owners hold four shares, each of which passes under that owner's will. That can produce an outcome nobody planned, where a share ends up owned by a son in law or by a grandchild who has no interest in living there. As joint tenants, the survivorship works its way down the list until one person owns everything, which is rarely what a family with several children intends.
If more than two people are going on a title, the co-ownership agreement stops being optional and becomes the main document. It should say what happens on a death, on a separation, and when one owner wants to sell, and it should be reviewed whenever any owner's will changes.
In our view, four names on one title is a structure to avoid unless there is a specific reason for it. In a multiplex there is usually a better arrangement available, which is fewer owners on each of several homes.
There is a related trap worth naming. Adding an adult child to a parent's title as joint tenants, so that the home passes to them without going through the estate, is a common piece of informal planning. It has consequences beyond survivorship: it can affect the child's own first-time buyer eligibility, it exposes the home to the child's creditors, and it can be difficult to reverse if the relationship changes. Take proper advice before doing it.
If you are already in that position and want to simplify it, the change is a registered dealing with title and will need your lender's agreement where there is a mortgage. It is worth asking a lawyer to price the change rather than assuming it is impossible, particularly while everybody is on good terms and available to sign.
Whatever you choose, tell the rest of the family what it is. Most of the disputes we hear about are not caused by the structure itself. They are caused by relatives who assumed a different structure was in place and only found out at the worst possible time.
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Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page comes from the body that issues it. Rules and rates change, so each entry says when we checked it.
- Property Law Act, RSBC 1996, c. 377, section 11 (Tenancy in common). BC Laws, Queen's Printer for British Columbia. Accessed 29 August 2026.
- Land Title Act, RSBC 1996, c. 250, section 177 (Registration of joint tenants). BC Laws, Queen's Printer for British Columbia. Accessed 29 August 2026.
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