Joint Tenancy

A Joint Tenancy is an undifferentiated form of land ownership, whereby the external world regards all parties in the Joint Tenancy as a single entitly.

General
The basic idea of the Joint Tenancy is classically expressed in the Latin maxim Quilibet totum tenet et nihil tenet; scilicet, totum in communi, et nihil separatim per se (Each holds the entirety and yet holds nothing; that is, the entirety in common, and nothing separately by itself). Putting it another way, ownership of the land under a Joint Tenancy is vested in the Joint Tenants as a group but not in the individuals participating in the Joint Tenancy.

A Joint Tenancy is most useful in non-commercial situations, such as between a husband and wife or with regards to a group of trustees, to ensure that the property in question stays within them even when one of the parties is dead or otherwise incapacitated.

Key Features
The following are key features of a Joint Tenancy.

Absence of Shares
There cannot be any shares in a Joint Tenancy as both parties are able to claim the entire undivided estate. The existence of or any reference to shares is antithetical to a Joint Tenancy.
 * Cowcher v Cowcher – The Court held that any reference to shareholding of any kind means that there is no longer a joint tenancy, rather a tenancy-in-common.
 * "A joint interest in equal shares is a contradiction in terms."
 * "There is no such interest known in law or equity as a Joint Tenancy in unequal shares."

The Right of Survivorship
The Right of Survivorship, classically known as the Ius Accrescendi, basically means that if any party to the joint tenancy dies, he 'drops out of the picture', meaning that the Joint Tenancy carries on without him as if nothing has changed. Title to the estate is not considered to have changed hands even if the Joint Tenancy is only left with 1 party. It can be seen as sort of 'winner takes all' gamble, where the person who lives longest wins the entire estate. Joint Tenancies are subject to the Commorientes rule, which holds that in a situation when it is uncertain and indeterminate on who died first, the Joint Tenants are deemed to have died in order of seniority (i.e. oldest died first). The practical effect of this is that the property would be deemed to go to the estate of the youngest person. In Singapore, this rule has been statutorily enshrined in the Civil Law Act. The rule also applies to a situation where it is known that both parties died at exactly the same time (REFERENCE NEEDED)
 * Stack v Dowden - Affirmed that there was a "tontine 'winner takes all' effect" in Joint Tenancies.
 * Shafeeg bin Salim Talib v Fatimah bte Abud bin Talib - Court in a Probate matter held that when a person died, his interest within a joint tenancy 'evaporates' and does not constitute part of the person's estate and the surviving parties in the Joint Tenancy may dispose of the property as they wished.
 * Civil Law Act, s.30 - In all cases where 2 or more persons die in circumstances rendering it uncertain which of them survived the other or others, such deaths shall (subject to any order of the court) for all purposes affecting the title to property be presumed to have occurred in order of seniority and accordingly the younger shall be deemed to have survived the elder.
 * Hickman v Peacey – During World War 2, 4 people died simultaneously in an air raid, and 2 of them were the beneficiaries of the other 2's wills. Court held that in the absence of such evidence as to which party had died first, the younger shall have been deemed (for the purposes of law) to have survived the elder.

4 Unities
The 4 Unities are the essential characteristics that are needed in a Joint Tenancy. They are: If any of the Unities are not present, the arrangement is no longer considered a Joint Tenancy.
 * Possession - Joint tenants are each of them as fully entitled to possession of the jointly owned property as any of the other joint tenants. No single joint tenant can point to a physical part of the land and claim it as his own.
 * Interest - Joint tenants are entitled to one and the same interest. This means that in general, an interest in land cannot be shifted to anyone else without all the joint tenants acting in concert.
 * Title - Joint Tenants must obtain their interests from the same document or transfer.
 * Time - Joint Tenants must obtain their interests at the same time.
 * AG Securities v Vaughan & Ors – A question arose as to if 4 people staying in a rented flat were considered Joint Tenants. Court held that they were merely licensees as there was no unity of title, time or interest. It affirmed the necessity for the 4 Unities to be present for a Joint Tenancy to exist.

Creation
There are several methods for the creation of a Joint Tenancy.

Ab Initio under the Common Law
Historically, the Common Law has held that if multiple parties derive an interest in land under the same document and transaction, a presumption arises that a Joint Tenancy is created. This has found statutory codification in the Land Titles Act.
 * Land Titles Act s.53(1) – In every instrument affecting registered land, co-tenants claiming under the instrument shall, unless they are described as Tenants-in-Common, hold the land as joint tenants; and if they are described as tenants-in-common, the shares in the registered land to be held by them shall, subject to subsection (2), be specified in the instrument.

Ab Initio in Equity
Equity takes a different view from the Common Law and will presume that a Tenancy-in-Common has been created unless both parties contribute equally to the purchase price. It is entirely possible for an estate to be held under a Joint Tenancy at Law and under a Tenancy-in-Common in Equity.
 * Sitiawah Bee bte Kader v Rosiyah bte Abdullah - Court held that where 2 or more people purchased property together and provided the money in unequal shares, the purchasers were presumed to take beneficially as tenants in common in shares proportionate to the sums advanced.

Conversion from a Tenancy-in-Common
Statutory Law provides for means whereby a Tenancy-in-Common may be converted to a Joint Tenancy.
 * Conveyancing and Law of Property Act s.66A(1) - Tenants in common entitled in equal shares who intend to hold their estate or interest in land as joint tenants may jointly declare by a deed of declaration that they hold the estate or interest in their respective shares in the land as joint tenants of the entire estate or interest thereof.
 * Land Titles Act s.53(3) – Tenants-in-common entitled in equal shares who intend to hold their estate or interest in land as joint tenants may jointly declare by an instrument of declaration in the approved form that they hold the estate or interest in their respective shares in the registered land as joint tenants of the entire estate or interest thereof.