Va. Code » Title 55.1. Property and Conveyances » Subtitle I. Property Conveyances » Chapter 1. Creation and Limitation of Estates » Article 3. Joint Ownership of Real or Personal Property
Virginia Code

Va. Code Ann. § 55.1-135 (2026)

Joint ownership in real and personal property

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Any persons may own real or personal property as joint tenants with or without a right of survivorship. When any person causes any real or personal property, or any written memorial of a chose in action, to be titled, registered, or endorsed in the name of two or more persons "jointly," as "joint tenants," in a "joint tenancy," or other similar language, such persons shall own the property in a joint tenancy without survivorship as provided in § 55.1-134. If, in addition, the expression "with survivorship," or any equivalent language, is employed in such titling, registering, or endorsing, it shall be presumed that such persons are intended to own the property as joint tenants with the right of survivorship as at common law. This section is not applicable to multiple party accounts under Article 2 (§ 6.2-604 et seq.) of Chapter 6 of Title 6.2 or to any other matter specifically governed by another provision of the Code.

If any real or personal property is conveyed or devised to spouses, they shall take and hold such property by moieties in the same manner as if a distinct moiety had been given to each spouse by a separate conveyance, unless language as provided in this section or in § 55.1-136 is used that designates the tenancy as a joint tenancy or a tenancy by the entirety and all requirements for holding property by such tenancy are met.

Code 1919, § 5160; Code 1950, § 55-21; 1999, c. 196, § 55-20.1; 2000, c. 331; 2001, c. 718; 2019, c. 712.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 1 case, 2020–2020 · leading case: Jones v. Phillips, 850 S.E.2d 646 (Va. 2020).
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Jones v. Phillips, 850 S.E.2d 646 (Va. 2020). · cites it 16× “Under Code § 55.1-135, a joint tenancy in real or personal property, including “any written memorial of a chose in action,” is presumed to be without the right of survivorship unless “the expression ‘with survivorship,’ or any equivalent language, is employed in such titling.”
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