Tenants by the Entirety is a special type of joint ownership between married couples here in Florida that supplies a considerable amount of property protection for any assets owned as Tenants by the Entirety. While roughly twenty states have laws that enable Tenants by the Entirety ownership, state laws vary widely regarding which assets can be owned as tenants by the totality. Only fifteen of the twenty states that allow Tenants by the Entireties ownership attend to some property security when an asset is owned as Tenants by the Entireties

Florida is distinct because married couples can own real or individual residential or commercial property as tenants by the entirety. We constantly give the example that a married couple can own a pen in Florida as occupants by the entirety. The significance of owning possessions as renters by the entirety is that couples can include a complimentary, additional layer of asset security to their possessions. Additionally, considering that occupants by the wholes is a joint tenancy, if one spouse predeceases the other spouse, the surviving spouse (the joint occupant) will receive the tenants by the totalities residential or commercial property without the residential or commercial property going through probate.

Table of Contents

How Does Tenants by the Entireties Provide Asset Protection in Florida?
Should I Own an Asset As Tenants by the Entireties, Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship, or Tenants in Common?
How to Make a Florida Asset Owned as Tenants by the Entireties.
Which Creditors Can Defeat Tenants by the Entireties Ownership?
FAQs: a list of typical tenants by the totalities questions we are asked
How Does Tenants by the Entireties Provide Asset Protection in Florida?

Tenants by the Entireties is a non-statutory protection versus creditors here in Florida. Non-statutory simply means that the exemption is discovered in Florida's typical law. So in Florida, when you own an asset as Tenants by the Entireties, both partners are dealt with as owning an undivided 100% interest in the asset.

This 100% ownership interest in the possession is various than Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship or Tenants in Common because a joint owner would be dealt with as just owning 50% of the property (assuming there are just 2 owners). While it's mathematically impossible for each different spouse to own an undistracted 100% interest in the possession, this 100% undistracted interest provides the Tenants by the Entireties property with financial institution protection.

The significance of the Tenants by the Entireties creditor security is that a creditor of one partner alone can not sever or reach out and get a Renters by the Entireties owned property.

Example: Terry and Jordan are a couple living here in Florida. Terry is driving around Tampa Bay and takes place to enter an accident with a notorious individual injury attorney's son. The infamous accident lawyer immediately submits a lawsuit against Terry and Jordan. Since all of Terry and Jordan's possessions are owned as Tenants by the Entireties, the lawyer is unable to seize any of Terry and Jordan's collectively owned possessions since the judgement is just against Terry.

Should I Own a Property As Tenants by the Entireties, Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship, or Tenants in Common?

There are three forms of joint ownership that are permitted here in Florida:

1. Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship.

1. Tenancy in Common.
2. Tenancy by the Entireties.
   
   Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship merely means that upon the death of one joint renter, the property passes straight to the enduring joint renter. This is the most common kind of ownership in between married couples in the United States (although you do not have to be married to use this type of joint occupancy). Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship makes sure that the asset does not go through probate when one spouse dies. However, Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship supplies zero possession defense for a possession.
   
   Tenancy in Common-also called Tenants in Common-means that upon the death of one tenant in typical, the possession passes to the departed occupant's beneficiaries or successors. The asset does not pass to the other Tenants in Common. Tenancy in Common also supplies zero possession protection for a possession.
   
   Caution: A lot of individuals own assets as Tenants in Common without even knowing the potential mistakes of a Tenancy in Common. Often times one Tenant in Common will die and that Tenant in Common's share of the property will need to go through probate before a brand-new owner steps into that deceased owner's position. Not just does Tenancy in Common cause probate, but it also can cause future concerns of ownership if a brand-new Tenant in Common presumes ownership that an original Tenant in Common does not wish to own the asset with.
   
   As you can see, both Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship and Tenancy in Common offer zero possession security for an asset. This is why couples in Florida ought to own all collectively owned properties as Tenants by the Entireties-married couples will receive a complimentary layer of asset protection not provided by the other types of joint ownership.
   
   How to Make a Florida Asset Owned as Tenants by the Entireties
   
   Tenants by the Entireties ownership in Florida requires six "unities." These six unities must exist for the possession to be treated as owned by Tenants by the Entireties:
   
   1. Unity of Possession (joint ownership and control)