Joint Ownership

A form of legal ownership in which two or more persons are co-owners and in which the property passes to the survivor automatically if one should die; property held jointly does not enter into a decedent’s estate for probate purposes and does not pass under will.

Joint surveys

Fire surveys undertaken by two surveyors. Where a risk is very large and shared by two or more insurers (coinsurance), the lead insurer undertakes the survey but may involve the insurer holding the next largest proportion. One insurer may survey the building and the other surveys the contents. It may also occur where a fire surveyor is accompanied by a specialist surveyor (e.g. sprinkler leakage specialist). In other instances, the company surveyor may be accompanied by the broker’s surveyor.

Joint Tenancy

Ownership of property shared equally by two or more parties under which the survivors assumes complete ownership. This is a different from a tenancy in comment where the heirs of a deceased party to the tenancy inherit his or her share.