An Act To Clarify the Method of Creating or Severing Joint Tenancy
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 0010
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: HASTINGS, CROCKETT, HOBBINS, MOULTON
Amends: 33 MRSA §159

Legislative Document 
No. 10 
S.P. 25 
In Senate, January 5, 2011 
An Act To Clarify the Method of Creating or Severing Joint 
Tenancy 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
JOSEPH G. CARLETON, JR. 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator HASTINGS of Oxford. 
Cosponsored by Representative CROCKETT of Bethel and 
Senator: HOBBINS of York, Representative: MOULTON of York. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  33 MRSA §159, as amended by PL 1973, c. 788, §164, is further amended 
to read: 
§159.  Conveyances to 2 or more persons 
Conveyances not in mortgage and devises of land to 2 or more persons create estates 
in common, unless otherwise expressed.  Deeds in which 2 or more grantees anywhere in 
the conveyances are named as joint tenants shall or named as having the right of 
survivorship or that otherwise indicate anywhere in the conveyances by appropriate 
language the intent to create a joint tenancy between such grantees must be construed as 
vesting an estate in fee simple in such grantees with right of survivorship.  Deeds in 
which the grantor is named as a grantee or as a grantee with another or others must be 
construed as vesting an estate in fee simple in such grantee or grantees including the 
grantor, unless otherwise expressed. 
A conveyance of real property by the owner thereof of the real property to himself the 
owner and another or others, or by the owners thereof of the real property to themselves 
the owners or to themselves the owners and another or others, as joint tenants or with the 
right of survivorship, or which that otherwise indicates anywhere in the conveyance by 
appropriate language the intent to create a joint tenancy between such owner or owners 
and such other or others or between themselves the owners by such the conveyance, shall 
create including language such as "as joint tenants,"  "in joint tenancy,"  "as joint tenants 
with rights of survivorship," "with rights of survivorship," "to them and to the survivor of 
them," "to them and their assigns and to the survivor and the heirs and assigns of the 
survivor forever" or "as tenants by the entirety," creates an estate in joint tenancy in the 
property so conveyed between all of the grantees, including the grantor. Estates in joint 
tenancy so created shall have and possess all of the attributes and incidents of estates in 
joint tenancy created or existing at common law and the rights and liabilities of the 
tenants in estates in joint tenancy so created shall be are the same as in estates in joint 
tenancy created or existing at common law. 
A conveyance of real property by an owner or owners of the real property holding in 
joint tenancy to the owner or to the owner and another or others, or to the owners or to the 
owners and another or others, as tenants in common, or that otherwise indicates anywhere 
in the conveyance by appropriate language the intent to create a tenancy in common or 
the intent to sever the joint tenancy between the owner or owners and such other or others 
or between the owners by the conveyance, or without expression of the tenancy created or 
without other expression of joint tenancy or right of survivorship, creates an estate in 
common in the property so conveyed between all of the grantees, including the grantor, or 
between the sole grantee and the other owner or owners. 
SUMMARY 
This bill revises the joint tenancy statute to provide that the intent to create a joint 
tenancy may be stated by appropriate language anywhere in a deed.  The bill also 
provides that a deed to an owner or an owner and another or others is effective and not a 
nullity.  It also provides specific examples of deed language appropriate to create a joint 
tenancy and provides that a joint tenancy may be severed by a deed to an owner or to an 
owner and another or others.