Where this fits on the exam
| Official syllabus topic | Sole, Co-Ownership, Common-Interest, Trust, Entity, and Life Estates |
|---|---|
| Official PSI area | Property Ownership |
| Published area weight | 10% of the national portion |
| Exam portion | National salesperson portion |
| Source edition | PSI Georgia Candidate Information Bulletin dated July 1, 2026 |
The Rule
PSI publishes the weight for the complete content area, not a fixed question count for this lesson. Learn the rule well enough to apply it when PSI changes names, numbers, or parties in a new scenario.
The lesson
Severalty and co-ownership
Severalty means one legal owner, even if that owner is an entity. Tenants in common hold undivided interests with no automatic survivorship and may own unequal shares.
Joint tenancy
Joint tenancy includes survivorship when validly created. Severance of one interest can change the form as to that share under applicable law.
Common-interest forms
A condominium owner holds a unit plus an undivided common interest. A cooperative resident usually owns shares and receives a proprietary lease. Timeshare arrangements divide use by time or points. A deeded timeshare conveys an ownership interest; a right-to-use agreement grants use under its terms without necessarily conveying title.
Trusts and entities
A trustee holds legal title under the trust terms. Corporations, partnerships, and limited liability companies can hold title as separate legal owners.
Life estates
A life tenant holds a present interest measured by a life. A remainderman receives the future interest from the creating instrument; a reversion returns to the grantor or the grantor's estate.
Signing for a trust, estate, or entity
A trust's authorized trustee holds legal title under its terms; beneficiaries hold the beneficial interest. An estate's representative and an entity's authorized signer need documented authority. Owning shares or an LLC membership interest is not the same as personally owning the entity's land. Verify the titleholder and signing power before contracting.
Decision rule
Georgia-specific distinction
Worked example
Scenario. A deed grants property to Dana for life, then to Lee. Dana dies.
Reason it through. Dana held the present life estate. Lee was named to receive the property after the measuring life ended.
Answer. Lee holds the remainder and becomes entitled to possession at Dana's death.
Common exam traps
- Calling entity ownership co-ownership automatically
- Assuming tenants in common have survivorship
- Confusing cooperative shares with condominium title
- Calling every future interest a reversion
Original practice questions with detailed explanations
These questions were written for instruction and mapped to the current outline. They are not copied from PSI or any live examination. Choose an answer before opening the explanation.
Question 1A Georgia deed conveys a house to Maria Diaz and Ben Diaz, a married couple, with no other language. Ben dies. What happens to Ben's interest?
- A. It passes to Maria by right of survivorship
- B. It passes to Maria as tenant by the entirety
- C. It passes through Ben's estate as a tenancy in common
- D. It reverts to the original grantor
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: C. It passes through Ben's estate as a tenancy in common
In Georgia, a deed to two or more people creates a tenancy in common unless it expressly uses joint tenancy or survivorship language, and Georgia does not recognize tenancy by the entirety. Marriage alone does not add survivorship to this deed.
- A. Incorrect. Survivorship does not arise merely because the owners are married.
- B. Incorrect. Georgia does not recognize tenancy by the entirety.
- C. Correct. Without survivorship language, Ben's tenancy-in-common interest passes through his estate.
- D. Incorrect. No fact creates a reversion to the grantor merely because a co-owner dies.
Question 2A grant reads 'to Alex for life, then to Jordan.' When Alex dies, who is entitled to the property, and by what interest?
- A. Jordan, as remainderman
- B. The grantor, by reversion
- C. Alex's heirs, by inheritance
- D. Jordan and Alex's heirs, in common
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: A. Jordan, as remainderman
A remainder is a future interest the creating instrument gives to a third party, so Jordan takes possession when the life estate ends. Reversion is the wrong choice, but it applies only when the property returns to the grantor.
- A. Correct. Jordan holds the remainder and takes possession when Alex's life estate ends.
- B. Incorrect. A reversion returns to the grantor; the deed instead names Jordan as the next owner.
- C. Incorrect. Alex's heirs cannot inherit a life estate measured by Alex's own life.
- D. Incorrect. Successive interests are different from simultaneous tenancy-in-common ownership.
Question 3What does a buyer of a cooperative unit usually receive?
- A. Title to the unit plus an undivided common interest
- B. Shares in the entity and a proprietary lease
- C. A deed to the unit held in severalty
- D. A fixed week of occupancy each year
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: B. Shares in the entity and a proprietary lease
A cooperative resident usually owns shares in the entity that owns the building and holds a proprietary lease to the unit. Unit title plus a common interest describes a condominium, which differs from ownership of cooperative shares.
- A. Incorrect. A condominium owner normally holds a deeded unit, unlike a cooperative shareholder.
- B. Correct. Cooperative ownership generally pairs corporate shares with a proprietary lease for occupancy.
- C. Incorrect. Severalty is ownership by one person or entity, not the shareholder's occupancy arrangement.
- D. Incorrect. A fixed-week timeshare grants recurring use rather than the cooperative interest described.
Question 4Title records show Oak Street LLC owns a rental house. Pat owns all of the LLC membership interests. How is title to the house held?
- A. In severalty by the LLC
- B. In tenancy in common by Pat and the LLC
- C. Personally by Pat because Pat is the only member
- D. In joint tenancy with every tenant
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: A. In severalty by the LLC
The LLC is the single titled owner. Pat's membership interest in the company is separate from direct title to its real property.
- A. Correct. Severalty describes the one legal titleholder, which can be an entity.
- B. Incorrect. The facts show no deed creating a shared title between Pat and the LLC.
- C. Incorrect. Sole membership does not itself change the recorded titleholder from company to individual.
- D. Incorrect. Tenants' occupancy does not give them joint ownership with survivorship.
Question 5A deed and trust instrument place legal title in Lee as trustee for Morgan's benefit. Morgan wants to sign a sale as sole legal owner. What should be checked first?
- A. Whether Morgan has lived there for one year
- B. The trust terms and the trustee's authority to convey
- C. Whether the buyer offers full price
- D. Whether all trusts automatically create joint tenancy
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: B. The trust terms and the trustee's authority to convey
The trust separates legal title and beneficial interest. The transaction needs the authorized titleholder's action under the trust and governing law.
- A. Incorrect. Occupancy duration does not establish authority to convey trust property.
- B. Correct. The instruments identify who holds title and can execute the conveyance.
- C. Incorrect. An attractive price does not replace the proper seller's signing authority.
- D. Incorrect. A trust does not automatically turn trustee and beneficiary into joint tenants.
Question 6A Georgia deed expressly creates joint tenancy with right of survivorship in two owners. Neither has severed the interest, and one dies. What is the usual result for the deceased owner's interest?
- A. It passes to the surviving joint tenant
- B. It necessarily passes through the deceased owner's probate estate
- C. It returns to the original grantor
- D. It becomes a tenancy by the entirety
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: A. It passes to the surviving joint tenant
The express survivorship language changes the result from an ordinary tenancy in common. With no severance, the surviving joint tenant succeeds to the deceased owner's interest.
- A. Correct. The deed expressly creates survivorship, and the facts rule out severance.
- B. Incorrect. An ordinary tenancy-in-common share passes through the owner's estate, but this deed creates survivorship.
- C. Incorrect. No reversion to the grantor is stated in the deed.
- D. Incorrect. A death does not create tenancy by the entirety, which Georgia does not recognize.
Question 7A buyer receives a deed conveying a recurring two-week ownership interest in a resort unit each year. Which feature distinguishes this from an ordinary right-to-use vacation contract?
- A. The buyer receives title to a real property interest
- B. The buyer may occupy the unit throughout the year
- C. The buyer owns shares in the corporation that owns the whole building
- D. The buyer has only a license that expires after each visit
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: A. The buyer receives title to a real property interest
The stated deed conveys a real property interest with use divided by time. An ordinary right-to-use arrangement supplies contractual occupancy rights. Recurring use alone does not tell you which form exists; read the instrument.
- A. Correct. The deeded ownership interest is the deciding fact, even though occupancy is limited to two weeks.
- B. Incorrect. The instrument limits occupancy by time; a deed does not promise unrestricted year-round use.
- C. Incorrect. Shares paired with a proprietary lease describe a cooperative; this buyer receives a deed.
- D. Incorrect. The facts expressly convey ownership, rather than permission that expires after each visit.
Question 8A vacation agreement grants occupancy for one week each year for 20 years. It expressly conveys no title or corporate shares. What does the purchaser receive under these facts?
- A. Fee simple title to the resort unit
- B. A cooperative ownership interest with a proprietary lease
- C. A contractual right to use the property for the stated periods
- D. An undivided tenancy-in-common interest for the entire year
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: C. A contractual right to use the property for the stated periods
The agreement supplies time-limited use without conveying ownership. The product name or annual payment cannot create title that the agreement expressly excludes. A deeded timeshare would change the ownership analysis.
- A. Incorrect. No title is conveyed, so the agreement does not establish fee simple ownership of the unit.
- B. Incorrect. The purchaser receives neither corporate shares nor the cooperative arrangement described by that choice.
- C. Correct. The occupancy periods and 20-year term define the contractual right to use.
- D. Incorrect. Recurring access does not by itself create an undivided ownership share.
Ready to move on?
You are ready for the next lesson when all of these are true.
- Explain Sole, Co-Ownership, Common-Interest, Trust, Entity, and Life Estates in one clear answer without notes.
- Separate Severalty and co-ownership from Joint tenancy using a fresh example.
- Apply the decision rule to a new fact pattern and name the fact that controls the result.
- State the Georgia-specific point or explain why the national rule applies unchanged.
- Answer every practice question and explain the rule each rejected option misapplies.
- Revisit this topic later in mixed practice without category labels.
Recommended next lesson
Continue with Government Rights in Land: PETE. Government Rights in Land: PETE turns from how private owners hold title to the four government powers that every owner's title remains subject to, including escheat when an owner dies with no valid will and no heirs.
Return to the Property Ownership hub to see every official branch and the complete lesson sequence for this content area.