A rule dating to 1829
Under Fla. Stat. § 689.15, a conveyance to two or more people creates a tenancy in common — no survivorship — unless the instrument expressly provides for the right of survivorship. The statute's history traces back to a Florida law from 1829, though it excepts one thing from the start: estates by the entirety. That exception is where married couples get treated very differently from everyone else.
The 2001 case that set the presumption
In Beal Bank, SSB v. Almand & Associates (2001), the Florida Supreme Court held that any real or personal property jointly owned by a married couple is presumed to be held as tenants by the entirety, unless the couple has expressly indicated otherwise. This is a genuinely different starting point from the ordinary rule: instead of needing to affirmatively create survivorship, a married couple gets it by default, and it takes an express indication to the contrary to opt out.
Complete protection, not just survivorship
Tenancy by the entirety does more than pass property to the survivor without probate. Because Florida law treats spouses as a single owner rather than two people each holding a separable half-interest, a judgment creditor of just one spouse can't reach entireties property at all. Ordinary joint tenancy with right of survivorship doesn't offer this: each JTWROS owner holds a separable share that their own individual creditor can reach and force to sale. Only a judgment against both spouses together can reach entireties property.
A statutory fix for individually owned property
Before 1943, a spouse who individually owned real property and wanted to convert it to entireties ownership with their spouse had to route the transfer through an intermediary third party — there was no way to deed it directly to both spouses and have that work. Fla. Stat. § 689.11 fixed this: it lets one spouse deed property directly to both spouses as tenants by the entirety, satisfying the unities of time and title without an intervening conveyance.
Not a community property state
Despite the strength of this presumption, Florida is not a community property state. Married couples own what they individually title; property doesn't automatically become shared jointly-owned property just because the couple is married. The Beal Bank presumption applies specifically to property that's already jointly titled in both spouses' names — it doesn't reach into one spouse's individually titled assets.
Married couples can still opt out
Because the presumption can be overcome by an express indication otherwise, a married couple who wants ordinary joint tenancy, or a tenancy in common, instead of entireties ownership can still arrange that — but it requires clear, affirmative language showing that intent, not just silence on the deed.
A different route for keeping real estate out of probate
Tenancy by the entirety and ordinary joint tenancy aren't the only ways to avoid probate for Florida real estate. See our guide to the Florida Lady Bird deed for a tool that works without adding anyone as a co-owner at all — and the constitutional limit that can affect it.