Whether you are buying a house with your spouse, a friend, a business partner, or a family member, co-ownership situations require the property owners to decide how they are going to take title to their land, and doing so has important consequences.  

When more than one person owns title to a piece of real property, Illinois law allows for title to be held between the owners in three ways: 

Tenants in common; 

Tenancy by the entirety;

Joint tenants with the right of survivorship; 

Each manner of holding title results in different circumstances of transfer upon the death of an owner, and will determine the rights and abilities of outside creditors to reach the property to satisfy debt.