What is the right of survivorship?

• A. In a joint tenancy, a deceased owner's share passes automatically to the surviving co-owners.
• B. The deceased owner's heirs receive the share.
• C. The share remains with the estate of the deceased.
• D. The share is sold to third parties.

Answer: (C)

The right of survivorship is a feature of joint ownership that automatically transfers a deceased co-owner’s interest to the surviving co-owners. When one owner dies, the others don’t inherit through the deceased’s will or estate; instead, they immediately own the entire property, in equal shares, as a group. This means the decedent’s heirs or creditors don’t receive the deceased’s portion.

This concept hinges on having a joint tenancy (and its four unities: time, title, interest, and possession). Since all owners hold equal shares from the same time and with the same rights, the death of one owner ends that owner’s participation and the surviving owners continue to hold the property together.

If the joint tenancy is severed—such as by transferring a share to someone else or by certain transfers that convert the ownership to a tenancy in common—the right of survivorship is lost for the affected share, and that share passes according to a will or to the deceased’s heirs rather than to the other co-owners. In contrast, tenancy in common has no survivorship: each owner’s interest passes by will or intestacy to their heirs.