The statute demands express language
Under Real Property § 2-117, no deed, will, or other written instrument that affects land or personal property creates a joint tenancy unless it expressly provides that the property granted is to be held in joint tenancy. Without that express statement, a conveyance to two or more people is presumed to be a tenancy in common, with no survivorship — a co-owner's share goes through probate.
But "joint tenants" alone is enough
Maryland doesn't require the fuller, more formal phrase some other states expect. Maryland courts have held that a transfer to two or more people simply "as joint tenants" is sufficient on its own to create a joint tenancy with the right of survivorship — the complete phrase "joint tenancy with the right of survivorship, and not as tenants in common" isn't necessary. Once a Maryland deed uses "joint tenants," survivorship is treated as a defining, automatic feature of that ownership form, not something that has to be separately spelled out.
The four unities still apply
Creating and maintaining a Maryland joint tenancy also requires the traditional "four unities": time, title, interest, and possession. All joint tenants must acquire their interest at the same time, through the same instrument, in equal shares, with an equal right to possess the entire property. If one joint tenant's unilateral action — such as conveying away their own share — destroys one of these unities, the co-ownership converts to a tenancy in common as to that share, and the mutual survivorship right ends.
Tenancy by the entirety for married couples
Maryland presumes that real estate conveyed to a married couple is held as tenants by the entirety, unless the deed says otherwise. This form carries an automatic right of survivorship and generally shields the property from the separate creditors of just one spouse, since neither spouse holds a severable individual share the way an ordinary joint tenant does.
Divorce ends it automatically
The protection tenancy by the entirety offers isn't permanent. An absolute divorce converts the tenancy by the entirety into a tenancy in common automatically, by operation of law — no new deed is needed to make that change, and neither the survivorship right nor the creditor protection survives the divorce.
Getting married later doesn't convert existing joint tenancy
The reverse situation doesn't happen automatically either. If two people already own property together as ordinary joint tenants and later marry each other, their ownership doesn't spontaneously convert into a tenancy by the entirety — they'd need to record a new deed to make that change.
A newer alternative, arriving in 2026
None of these co-ownership forms are the only way to keep Maryland real estate out of probate. See our guide to the new Maryland TOD deed for a tool that avoids probate without requiring a co-owner at all.