what are tenants by entirety tbe 
tenants by entirety tbe is a method in some states by which married couples can hold the title to a property in order for one spouse to modify his or her interest in the property in any way the consent of both spouses is required by tenants by entirety it also provides that when one spouse passes away the surviving spouse gains full ownership of the property understanding tenants by entirety tbe for example a husband could not decide to sell his ownership interest in a vacation home owned by his wife without the wife s consent about half of the u s states allow tenancy by entirety for all types of property property can include real estate bank and other financial accounts and even business property a handful of states allow it only for real estate other possible structures under which spouses may choose to jointly own property include tenancy in common and joint tenancy each method of holding title affects each owner s rights to transfer the property and use it as collateral the ownership structure also determines what will happen to the property when one spouse dies and whether the property can be used to satisfy a debt or judgment 