Tenants by the Entirety is a special kind of joint ownership in between married couples here in Florida that provides a considerable quantity of possession protection for any properties owned as Tenants by the Entirety. While approximately twenty states have laws that enable Tenants by the Entirety ownership, state laws vary commonly as to which assets can be owned as renters by the totality. Only fifteen of the twenty states that allow Tenants by the Entireties ownership attend to some property defense when an asset is owned as Tenants by the Entireties

Florida is special because married couples can own real or individual residential or commercial property as occupants by the whole. We constantly provide the example that a married couple can own a pen in Florida as occupants by the whole. The significance of owning properties as occupants by the totality is that couples can include a totally free, extra layer of possession protection to their properties. Additionally, because occupants by the wholes is a joint tenancy, if one partner predeceases the other spouse, the surviving partner (the joint occupant) will receive the renters by the wholes residential or commercial property without the residential or commercial property travelling 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 entireties questions we are asked
How Does Tenants by the Entireties Provide Asset Protection in Florida?

Tenants by the Entireties is a non-statutory security against creditors here in Florida. Non-statutory simply suggests that the exemption is found in Florida's common law. So in Florida, when you own a possession as Tenants by the Entireties, both partners are treated as owning an undistracted 100% interest in the possession.

This 100% ownership interest in the property is different than Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship or Tenants in Common given that a joint owner would be dealt with as just owning 50% of the possession (assuming there are just 2 owners). While it's mathematically difficult for each separate spouse to own an undivided 100% interest in the asset, this 100% concentrated interest provides the Tenants by the Entireties possession with creditor security.

The significance of the Tenants by the Entireties creditor defense is that a financial institution of one spouse alone can not sever or reach out and grab an Occupants by the Entireties owned possession.

Example: Terry and Jordan are a married couple living here in Florida. Terry is driving around Tampa Bay and occurs to enter into an accident with an infamous injury attorney's child. The notorious injury lawyer right away files a claim versus Terry and Jordan. Since all of Terry and Jordan's properties are owned as Tenants by the Entireties, the notorious accident attorney is unable to seize any of Terry and Jordan's jointly owned possessions because the judgement is only against Terry.

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

There are 3 kinds 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 simply indicates that upon the death of one joint occupant, the asset passes directly to the making it through joint tenant. This is the most typical type of ownership in between married couples in the United States (although you don't need to be wed to use this type of joint tenancy). Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship guarantees that the asset does not go through probate when one partner passes away. However, Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship provides absolutely no asset security for an asset.
   
   Tenancy in Common-also understood as Tenants in Common-means that upon the death of one renter in common, the possession passes to the deceased renter's beneficiaries or heirs. The asset does not pass to the other Tenants in Common. Tenancy in Common also offers absolutely no property protection for a property.
   
   Caution: A lot of individuals own properties as Tenants in Common without even understanding the prospective risks of a Tenancy in Common. Many times one Tenant in Common will pass away which Tenant in Common's share of the asset will need to pass through probate before a brand-new owner steps into that departed owner's position. Not only does Tenancy in Common cause probate, however it also can cause future issues of ownership if a brand-new Tenant in Common assumes ownership that an original Tenant in Common does not desire to own the possession with.
   
   As you can see, both Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship and Tenancy in Common supply zero property protection for a possession. This is why couples in Florida should own all jointly owned properties as Tenants by the Entireties-married couples will get a totally free layer of property security not offered by the other kinds of joint ownership.
   
   How to Make a Florida Asset Owned as Tenants by the Entireties
   
   Tenants by the Entireties ownership in Florida needs 6 "unities." These 6 unities need to exist for the property to be dealt with as owned by Tenants by the Entireties:
   
   1. Unity of Possession (joint ownership and control)