How can joint tenancy be changed to a tenancy in common?

Changing joint tenancy to a tenancy in common can be effectively accomplished when one joint tenant sells his or her interest in the property to a third person. This action disrupts the unity of possession that is inherent in joint tenancy, which requires all owners to hold the property under the same conditions. Once a joint tenant sells their interest, the new owner is not automatically a joint tenant with the remaining owners, but rather becomes a tenant in common with them.

In a joint tenancy, co-owners have equal shares, and there is a right of survivorship, meaning that if one owner passes away, their share automatically goes to the remaining joint tenants. However, once one owner sells their share, that new party becomes a tenant in common, who can then own a distinct, fractional interest in the property without the right of survivorship.

While mutual agreement among all joint tenants, a court order, or selling the property may seem plausible, they do not directly achieve the necessary conversion of ownership type as effectively as the sale of one joint tenant's interest to a third party. Therefore, the act of one joint tenant selling their interest clearly transitions the ownership from joint tenancy to tenancy in common.