• An estate by entirety is based on the legal fiction that a husband and wife are a single unit. The estate consists of five unities: time, title, interest, possession, and marriage. The last of these unities distinguishes the estate by entirety from the joint tenancy. A joint tenancy can exist with any number of persons, while an estate by entirety can be held only by a husband and wife and is not available to any other persons. And it can be acquired only during the marriage. This estate has a right of survivorship, but upon the death of one spouse, the surviving spouse retains the entire interest rather than acquiring the decedent’s interest. Most jurisdictions have abolished this estate.
— Also termed estate by the entirety; estate by entireties; estate by the entireties; tenancy by the entirety; tenancy by the entireties. Cf. joint tenancy and tenancy in common under TENANCY.
