(44) While the courts gave deference to marital property, the term "
tenancy by the entirety" would not exist for another 450 years.
of the
tenancy by the entirety, at least as interpreted by some states,
Creditors of only one spouse may obtain judgments, but they generally may not foreclose upon property that the debtor spouse holds in
tenancy by the entirety.
state's approach to
tenancy by the entirety); Colleen M.
The second way to avoid probate is by having property held in joint tenancy or
tenancy by the entirety. The advantages are that it is easy to arrange and at the death of all joint tenants but the last one, the property immediately passes to the remaining tenant without going through probate.
One of the most troubling areas in estate planning is the treatment of property owned as joint tenancy with right of survivorship (JTWROS) and
tenancy by the entirety. This area becomes more troublesome when three-way JTWROS ownership of property is involved in the gross estate of a decedent spouse.
An alternative to the trust arrangement for married couples only is to title certain property
tenancy by the entirety. Some states provide that
tenancy by the entirety property is immune from creditors of a husband or wife (but not of both).
Based upon Planas, and because the act is silent as to
tenancy by the entirety protection, it appears that the entirety exemption will continue to protect a homestead if the judgment is only against one spouse.
6321 on "all property and rights to property" of a delinquent taxpayer attaches to the taxpayer's rights in property held as a
tenancy by the entirety (TE), even though Michigan law insulates such property from the claims of creditors of only one spouse.
Co-ownership of property has four possible forms: tenancy in common, joint tenancy,
tenancy by the entirety and community property ownership.
The creation of a joint tenancy with right of survivorship or
tenancy by the entirety between a U.S.
(5) Florida, like Michigan, characterizes
tenancy by the entirety ownership as creating no individual rights whatsoever, but each owner "is vested with an entire title." (6) Accordingly, property held as tenants by the entirety can only be reached to satisfy a husband and wife's joint debts and cannot be reached to satisfy the obligations of only one spouse.