3.3 Property Ownership in Missouri

Three Forms of Concurrent Ownership

Missouri recognizes three ways two or more people can co-own real property. The exam tests survivorship, share equality, and creditor exposure.

Tenancy in Common (TIC)

The default for unmarried co-owners when the deed is silent. Each owner holds an undivided fractional share (which may be unequal), has no right of survivorship, and can sell, mortgage, or devise that share independently. Any co-tenant may file a partition action to force a division or sale.

Joint Tenancy (JTWROS)

Requires the four unities — Time, Title, Interest, Possession (TTIP) — equal shares, and an express statement creating 'joint tenants with right of survivorship.' On death, the share passes automatically to surviving joint tenants, bypassing probate. Selling a share severs the joint tenancy as to that share, converting it to a tenancy in common.

Tenancy by the Entirety (TBE)

Available only to married couples. It carries automatic survivorship and a powerful shield: a creditor of just one spouse generally cannot reach the property. Both spouses must sign to convey or encumber it.

Most-missed point (RSMo 442.450): When a deed conveys to two grantees who are in fact husband and wife, Missouri presumes tenancy by the entirety even without the words 'as husband and wife.' This rebuttable presumption is overcome only by a clear, express declaration of a different tenancy. Do NOT answer that spouses default to tenancy in common.

Separate-Property State, Not Community Property

Missouri is a separate-property state. Each spouse owns what is titled to them; there is no automatic 50/50 community-property pool as in Texas, California, or Arizona. At divorce, Missouri courts apply equitable distribution of marital property — a fair, not necessarily equal, split — while confirming each spouse's separate (premarital or inherited) property.

Surviving-Spouse Protections

Missouri abolished common-law dower and curtesy and replaced them with statutory protections so a spouse cannot be fully disinherited:

Homestead Exemption (RSMo 513.475)

Missouri's homestead exemption protects a limited amount of equity in the primary residence from general creditors. The cap is fixed by statute (set in 2003) and is low relative to many states.

What the Homestead Does NOT Stop

Exam tip: The $15,000 figure is a favorite distractor against $5,000 (mobile homes) and inflated amounts like $50,000. Match the number to the asset type, and remember the homestead never blocks a purchase-money mortgage or tax lien.

Severing and Converting Ownership — Tested Mechanics

The state portion often gives a fact pattern and asks what the ownership becomes after an event. Drill these conversions:

• A joint tenant who sells their interest destroys the unities of time and title for that share. If A, B, and C are joint tenants and C sells to D, then D holds as a tenant in common with A and B, while A and B remain joint tenants with each other.
• A divorce ends a tenancy by the entirety; absent other action, the former spouses typically become tenants in common as to the property.
• A partition action is available to tenants in common and joint tenants but NOT to a single spouse in a tenancy by the entirety — neither spouse can force a partition while married.

Trusts, Estates, and Title

Missouri also recognizes a beneficiary deed (RSMo 461.025): an owner records a deed naming a grantee who takes title automatically at the owner's death, avoiding probate while leaving the owner full control during life. This 'transfer-on-death' deed is revocable any time before death and is a common exam answer for passing real estate outside a will without creating a present co-ownership.

Quick Scenario

Husband and wife own their home as tenants by the entirety. The husband alone signs a contract to sell. The buyer cannot get full marketable title because both spouses must sign to convey entirety property. The licensee's job is to recognize the defect early and obtain the wife's signature, preventing a failed closing — exactly the kind of applied judgment the state portion rewards over rote memorization.