The default: tenancy in common
Under RSMo § 442.450, real estate granted to two or more people — other than executors, trustees, or a husband and wife — creates a tenancy in common, with no survivorship, unless the grant expressly declares a joint tenancy. Missouri courts have generally looked for language that clearly manifests that intent, such as "as joint tenants, and not as tenants in common, with right of survivorship."
A deed for two couples, nested instead of merged
A real Missouri case shows how this can play out unexpectedly. A 1969 deed conveyed property to two married couples together, described as taking title "all as joint tenants with right of survivorship in all four, and not as tenants in common." When one husband died a decade later, his widow argued she still held her couple's original half-interest as a tenancy by the entirety with her late husband — not as a quarter-share joint tenant among all four original grantees. The Missouri Court of Appeals agreed: the joint-tenancy language in the deed wasn't enough to override the automatic tenancy by the entirety that arises between a husband and wife. The result was a nested structure — each married couple held tenancy by the entirety within their own marriage, and the two couples' halves were joint tenants with each other. When the husband died, his half simply became his widow's outright, under the entireties presumption, rather than splitting among all the surviving grantees.
Tenancy by the entirety for married couples
Real estate conveyed to a husband and wife is presumed to be held as tenants by the entirety under RSMo § 442.025. This form carries automatic survivorship and generally shields the property from the separate creditors of just one spouse — as the Nelson case shows, it's a strong enough presumption that even explicit joint-tenancy language aimed at a larger group of grantees doesn't necessarily displace it for the married pairs within that group.
Ordinary joint tenancy can be severed unilaterally
Outside of tenancy by the entirety, a standard joint tenancy in Missouri isn't permanent. Missouri case law has confirmed that one joint tenant can defeat the survivorship right by conveying their own interest to someone else during their lifetime — the recipient becomes a tenant in common with the remaining original owner, and the mutual survivorship that existed between the original joint tenants ends.
An exception when a will creates it explicitly
There's a notable exception to that severability. When a testator's will explicitly grants property to multiple beneficiaries as joint tenants — rather than survivorship merely being implied by the general law — Missouri case law has treated the resulting right as indestructible, meaning no single beneficiary can unilaterally convey away their share to defeat the others' survivorship interest.
A newer tool for real estate
None of these co-ownership forms are the only way to keep Missouri real estate out of probate. See our guide to the Missouri beneficiary deed for a tool that avoids probate without requiring a co-owner at all.