The most common way for couples to purchase a property in Australia is as Joint Tenants. However, there is an option that may be more suitable to some buyers, in using the Tenants in Common method.

Joint Tenants

Joint tenancy involves a right of survivorship, meaning the interest held by each tenant automatically passes to the other upon the death of one.
eg: If 4 people own a property as Joint Tenants, and one dies, the property then becomes owned by the remaining three.
Joint tenants are treated as a single ownership.

Tenants in Common

Tenants in common can be between two or more persons, related or not.
Upon death, the interest of the deceased will pass to their heirs.
eg: If 4 people own a property as Tenants in Common, and one of them dies, that persons share becomes owned by the beneficiariy in that persons will.
The other three owners still only own the same share that they originally had.

Why change from a Joint Tenancy to Tenants in Common

There are several reasons why co-owners may wish to sever the joint tenancy.
Undoubtedly the most common event precipitating severance is the breakdown in the relationship between co-owners.
In these circumstances the likelihood is that each of the co-owners would no longer wish the other co-owner to take the property in its entirety but would prefer to leave his or her share to someone else.
Source: www.ipc.nsw.gov.au