Joint Ownership and death

[Twoflutes]

John and Mary inherit a house jointly. Mary and her family live in the house and pay a small rent to John and also pay for house upkeep etc. They have a written agreement about all the details of this and agreed that after 7 years the agreement would end and Mary has the option to buy John out.
If Mary died two years later, would her share go to her family (she has made a will in their favour), or would her share go to John and who then would be full owner.?

 

[Thirsty]

I'm assuming that John and Mary are not married to each other?

What type of joint ownership do they have - are they joint tenants or tenants-in-common?

 

[Twoflutes]

No they are siblings. I am not sure of the type of ownership. They inherited the house in a will, equally.

 

[Johnno75]

If the house is held by both “as joint tenants”, the deceased’s share automatically passes to the surviving tenant on death.

If the house is held by both as “tenants in common”, the deceased’s share forms part of the deceased’s estate and passes under the will or if no will, under the rules of intestacy.

The title deeds will show how the property is held.