Know About Joint Property Ownership in India- Types & Benefits

Home buying is the most critical decision for all of us and as the matter of fact; home buyers are considering joint ownership against sole property ownership because it comes with safety, other than this, it is witnessed that the home buying age has dropped down to 25-35 years where the buyers are keen to buy property in joint ownership to curtail the debt burden and lots of advantages are introduced which one can experience when plan for joint ownership with family, acquaintance, coworker or any trusted person.

TABLE OF CONTENT

  • How do you define joint ownership?
  • What are the types of Joint Ownership?                                   
  • What are the benefits of Joint Property Ownership?
  • In what condition can you claim tax benefits on the property?

FAQs

  • How do you get a joint ownership of a property?
  • How do I get out of Joint Property Ownership?
  • What are the types of Joint Ownership?
  • What rights do I have on a joint property?

 How do you define joint ownership?

In simple words, joint ownership is any property that is on the name of two or more and it could be friends, husband & wife, business partners and more can be paired up on the bases of trust. And one can sell their share anyone when needed and equal rights & access until their death.               

What are the types of Joint Ownership?

Tenancy in common- This is one type of co owners for property that doesn’t mention their share at the point of buying, and though they have equal rights over the property, and in case, the death of any co-owner, the ownership will not be transferred automatically, and this might vary depending on the will of the deceased.

HOW IS TENANCY IN COMMON ENDS?

  • Sell the property (with all the shares) to someone else
  • Convert to a beneficial joint tenancy
  • If one owner get all the shares in the property

Joint Tenancy- For this, all the tenants must be at same place & time with sale deed with equal interest in the property, and in case the demise of the co owner the rights will be automatically passed on the to the surviving tenant.

*Note- The ownership over the property would be legally identified as the tenancy unless you specifically mention it in the property documents that the property is owned as joint tenants by co-owners.

Joint Property Ownership

FOR EQUALITY

  • All tenants get the property at the same point of time
  • All parts have an equal interest
  • All tenants acquired title by the same deed or will
  • Equal right to possession
  • So these 4 conditions must be fulfilled in order to keep a joint tenancy.

And other than this, it ends in 4 different conditions- if the property is transferred to a single person, in case; anyone of the owner is bankrupted it is converted into tenancy in common, the property is given to someone else or the owner that outlives.

Tenancy by the Entirety– This type of joint ownership is by husband & wife who are considered as a single entity where both of them can use the property and in case, if one dies the whole property will be used by the single person.

WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS TO MEET TENANCY BY THE ENTIRETY?

  1. Marriage is mandatory
  2. Both husband & wife should acquire title by the same will or deed
  3. Both should have identical interests in the property
  4. They must have equal right to possession

And in case, if any of the above mentioned condition is missing, then will be presumed more favoured tenancy in common is formed.

IN WHAT CONDITIONS DOES TENANCY BY THE ENTIRETY COME TO AN END?

  1. Demise of any spouse
  2. Implied agreement or by express such tenancy can come to an end
  3. The property can be gifted to someone else
  4. Divorce

PROPERTY TAX BASICS FOR YOU

Now let us jump on the benefits of Joint Property Ownership where we have mentioned 6 benefits of buying a joint property- Get definition & advantages both.                                         

What are the benefits of Joint Property Ownership?

Joint Property Ownership is considered as the safest and easy way to plan property investment where the owners get stamp duty tax benefits, tax benefits, easy access to the property after the death so trail of benefits are infused when anyone opt for Joint Property Ownership.

After going through the basic meaning of  Joint Property Ownership let us get into its advantages which makes this a lucrative idea for both investor & home buyers who thought property investment as a farfetched dream.

JOINT OWNERSHIP PROPERTY BENEFITS ARE BELOW:-

What are the benefits of Joint Property Ownership? HERE WE HAVE GIVEN 6 ADVANTAGES 

  1. Easy Property Transfer

Unfortunately, in case of demise or accident, another property holder can transfer the property without going into any legal probe and further it requires fresh registration of the property in the name of the new property holders.

And this process will not take much time because the transfer of the property is super comfortable, so if you want to transfer jointly owned real estate to the only co-owner you need to put the document in the local public land records showcasing that you are the only sole owner of the property.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED

It depends on the state because in some you can simply file a death certificate, whereas, in some states, the only sole owner must sign and file a statement explaining that the person is the only sole owner now, and the statement must be signed ‘under penalty of perjury without notary (declaration) and statement may need to notarize (affidavit).

  • Income Tax Relaxation

As per Section 80C of the income tax act, the applicants can avail a benefit of up to Rs 1.5 Lakh each a year on the principal amount and Rs 2 Lakh each on interest paid. And also if you purchase the property by the name of your wife, then you can get extra rebates, for example: – Male buyer needs to pay 7% stamp duty whereas, a female pays 5% stamp duty.

So it is suggested to make females the prime owner to get extra tax redemptions.

  • Control Over maintenance 

When one is busy, then another person can look after the small issues (for example- water blockage, electric fault or to meet the plumber) so if one person is at work, the other one can handle the related problems. When the plan for the joint property then the percentage of responsibility is divided too and the managing part can be divided well.

  • Improves Purchasing Opportunity

When it comes to buying a home, then it creates a big burden on a single person, so by going joint ownership you can curtail the stress of investment and distribute the total amount where it opens up the scope of investment for both investors and home buyers because otherwise, it becomes a daunting task for each one of us.

Besides this, it is majorly opt for second property investment where you can get monthly rental, so if you have plans for rental and funds are the fuss, then joint property will be a cream of the crop option for you.

  • Access in Everyway

For example if you have plans for renovation then it a good time when you can move to this property and save your penny because a hotel stay could charge you more, so this way to control your expenses too.

Other than this, the property could be used for your temporary use might be for a business meeting, turn it into a warehouse for a while and more usage creates its accessibility.

  • Better Home Loan

If both the parties are salaried, then earning of both will be calculated to decide the home loan limit, and this increases the higher home loan, so this improves the credibility of application where the bank consider it the lower risk group, so with joint property access you get easy loan anytime and this moves you ahead towards your property investment.

Now after getting all its benefits- Easy property transfer, income Tax Relaxation, control over maintenance, improves purchasing opportunity, access in everyway and better home loan, now let us move to another concern stating:- In what condition can you claim tax benefits on the property?

  1. YOU MUST BE A CO OWNER IN THE PROPERTY

If you really want to claim the tax benefits, then you must be an owner of the property, generally, a loan is taken jointly, where the borrower is not the owner so in such case they might not be able to claim tax benefits.

  • BE A CO-BORROWER FOR THE LOAN

Along with the owner of the property you need to be an applicant as per the loan documents, and owners those are not the borrowers and have no contribution to the EMI shall be free from tax benefits.

  • MAKE SURE THE PROPERTY IS COMPLETED

If you are willing to take tax benefits, then ensure the property is completed as tax benefits are not liable for under construction property.

IN CASE YOU WANT TO CHANGE YOUR CO-OWNERSHIP ARRANGMENT

It takes a meticulous approach to understand the legal & regulatory requirements where it depends on its usage- care homes, boarding and rental, so with the changes you can get its effective usability, so for this, get licenses, undergo inspections and meet different standards.

Now let us finish this up and talk about some important FAQs which will give you a better understanding of Joint Property ownership.

Q- How do you get a joint ownership of a property?

If you want to add a co-ower, then a new deed has to be created and this must be registered at the sub registrar’s office for it to be legal under the Transfer of Property Act and this can be done by sale deed or a gift deed.

Q- How do I get out of Joint Property Ownership?

A spouse can hand over his/her share to the separating partner and the deeds have to be registered at the registrar’s office after paying the applicable stamp duty (5% to 12.5% depending on the states you are buying in.

 Q- What are the types of Joint Ownership?

There are three types of joint ownership- Joint tenancy, tenancy in common and tenancy by the entirety.

Q- What rights do I have on a joint property?

Both the owners own the whole property and they have equal rights to the property, and if one dies the property will pass to the remaining owner and you can’t give the property to anyone else in your will.

LET US CONCLUDE

So if you have plans for Joint Property Ownership, then the above mentioned benefits and certain concerns would have given you better understanding about it and if you have been in a dilemma, then this might add more clarity to your decision of property investment.