If two people are not married and want ownership to reflect their contributions to the purchase, the ownership arrangement should be

• A. Tenants in common
• B. Joint and defined
• C. Joint tenants
• D. Joint and several

Answer: (A)

When two people who aren’t married want ownership to reflect how much each contributed, the right choice is tenants in common. This arrangement creates separate, distinct interests in the property that can be unequal and clearly specified in the deed. Each owner holds a specific percentage or portion of the property, and there is no right of survivorship, so if one owner dies, their share passes to their heirs or as dictated by their will, not to the other owner. For example, if one person contributed 70% and the other 30%, those percentages can be reflected in the ownership interests.

The other forms don’t fit as well. Joint tenancy (joint tenants) comes with the right of survivorship and typically implies equal shares, so the surviving owner would automatically receive the entire property, which wouldn’t reflect unequal contributions. The term “joint and several” isn’t a standard property-ownership layout for reflecting contributions, and it’s more about liability in some contexts. Therefore, tenants in common is the best way to mirror each person’s actual contribution when the co-owners aren’t married.