27 V.S.A. § 2

This is the official text of 27 V.S.A. § 2, part of Vermont’s V.S.A — part of the compiled statutory law of Vermont, published by the state as "V.S.A." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

§ 2. Estate in common preferred to joint tenancy; joint tenancy with unequal shares

Official statutory text

(a) Conveyances and devises of lands, whether for years, for life or in fee, made to two or more persons, shall be construed to create estates in common and not in joint tenancy, unless it is expressed therein that the grantees or devisees shall take the lands jointly or as joint tenants or in joint tenancy or to them and the survivors of them. This provision shall not apply to devises or conveyances made in trust or made to spouses or to conveyances in which it manifestly appears from the tenor of the instrument that it was intended to create an estate in joint tenancy.

(b)(1) An instrument may create a joint tenancy in which the interests of the joint tenants are equal or unequal.

(2) Unless the instrument creating a joint tenancy contains language indicating a contrary intent:

(A) It shall be presumed that the joint tenants' interests are equal.

(B) Upon the death of a joint tenant, the deceased joint tenant's interest shall be allocated among the surviving joint tenants, as joint tenants, in proportion to their respective joint interests at the time of the deceased joint tenant's death.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

Need a lawyer in Vermont?

Find a Vermont lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.