When Jan and Mike purchased a property, their lawyer put to them multiple options for ownership of the property. They both had children with previous partners and wanted to make sure those children received part of the property if they passed away.  If they chose to own as joint tenants, the property would pass to the survivor of them automatically if one partner died, leaving nothing for their respective children. They decided on “tenants in common”, where they own a half share of the property each, so they could leave their half of the property to their children if they chose to.

Whether a couple owns a property as “joint tenants” or as “tenants in common” will depend on their circumstances and how they intend the property to be dealt with if they died.  There can also be multiple owners who own a property in different shares.

Trusts are also a common way to own property.  Trustees hold property on behalf of the Trust which is ring-fenced against creditors, relationship disputes and other claims.

Property can also be owned by a company, including by a Loss Attributing Qualifying Company (LAQC) which can have tax benefits if you are buying a rental property.