Tenancy in common by default, for everyone
Under M.G.L. c. 184, § 7, a conveyance or devise of land to two or more people — including a husband and wife — creates a tenancy in common, not a joint tenancy, unless the instrument expressly states the grantees take jointly, as joint tenants, or in joint tenancy, or unless it manifestly appears from the tenor of the instrument that a joint tenancy was intended. Notice what this means: marriage alone doesn't change the default. Everyone starts from tenancy in common unless the deed says otherwise.
Entirety needs its own express words
Tenancy by the entirety in Massachusetts follows the same pattern as joint tenancy: it requires express language. A devise of land to a person and their spouse vests a tenancy by the entirety only if the instrument creating the devise expressly so states. Without that specific language, a married couple's conveyance defaults right back to a tenancy in common — the same outcome any other pair of co-owners would get.
The wording trap: "joint tenants" beats "spouse"
Here's a genuine quirk worth knowing about. If a conveyance or devise to a person and their spouse expressly states the grantees take jointly, as joint tenants, or in joint tenancy, or to them and the survivor of them, that creates an ordinary joint tenancy — not a tenancy by the entirety, even though the grantees are married. The joint-tenancy wording controls over the marital relationship. A drafter who mechanically uses standard joint-tenancy language for a married couple, without specifically invoking "entirety," ends up with a different form of ownership than they may have intended.
Unmarried people deeded "as tenants by the entirety" still get survivorship
The statute addresses the reverse scenario directly, too. A conveyance or devise of land to two people as tenants by the entirety who are not married to each other creates an estate in joint tenancy, not a tenancy in common. This is similar in spirit to how some other states' courts have treated a mismatched "entireties" label between unmarried people — but Massachusetts has written the outcome directly into the statute rather than leaving it to case-by-case litigation.
Three or more grantees, regardless of marital status
In a conveyance or devise to three or more people, words creating a joint tenancy are construed as applying to all of the grantees or devisees, regardless of marital status, unless a contrary intent appears from the tenor of the instrument. This keeps the rule consistent even in more complex, multi-party conveyances involving a mix of married and unmarried grantees.
Repeated attempts to modernize this statute
Massachusetts legislators have filed bills across multiple sessions — including proposals titled "An Act to clarify the rights of joint owners of real property and abolish certain inconsistent or archaic rules" — aimed at updating this framework, including letting an instrument specify unequal percentage interests among tenants in common or joint tenants more clearly. As of the most recent session, the underlying statute described here remains largely unchanged, so these wording rules continue to control how Massachusetts real estate passes at death.
A different route for real estate
None of these co-ownership forms are the only way to think about keeping Massachusetts real estate out of probate. See our guide to why Massachusetts has no transfer-on-death deed for what the state offers instead.