personal property ownershipprop

Title to property can have a significant impact on important decisions and planning opportunities.

Sole ownership occurs when an individual owns all rights to a piece of property.
  - Rights include:
    - Decide the use of the property.
    - Control the property.
    - Disposition of the property.
These rights extend throughout the sole owner’s lifetime.

With sole ownership comes the right to decide how the asset is disposed of during the owner’s lifetime or at the time of death.
Disposition of some assets during the owner’s lifetime may be subject to provincial matrimonial property legislation.
- Example:
- If a family home is registered in the name of only one spouse, the spouse in whose name the home is registered cannot sell the home without the other spouse’s written permission.

In either of these forms of ownership, the following applies:
  1. All owners share equally in the right to possess and use the property.
  2. One co-owner cannot exclude another co-owner from the right to use or possess the property.
  3. Each co-owner has the right to dispose of his or her share of the property during his or her lifetime, subject to provincial matrimonial property legislation.

A primary difference between these two forms of ownership is the disposition of the property at the time of a co-owner’s death:
1. Property owned through joint tenancy automatically passes to the surviving co-tenant(s) in equal shares under the right of survivorship.
2. Property owned through a tenancy in common gives each co-owner the right to dispose of the property during their lifetime and at the time of death.

Unity of Interest: Each joint tenant must have an interest in the property.
Unity of Title: The interests of all joint tenants must originate from the same document.
Unity of Possession: Each joint tenant must have equal rights to the entire property.
Unity of Time: The interests of all joint tenants must originate at the same time.
If all four unities are not present in a joint tenancy with rights of survivorship structure, the property title will default to a tenancy in common.

Sole Ownership:
- Individual owns all rights to property.
- Individual has the right to decide use, control, and disposition of property.
Joint Ownership:
  - Equal right by all owners to possess and use property.
  - Co-owner cannot exclude another co-owner from use or possession of property.
  - Each co-owner has the right to dispose of his share of the property during his lifetime.
Joint Tenancy:
- Must satisfy the four unities: Unity of Interest, Unity of Title, Unity of Possession, and Unity of Time.
Tenancy in Common:
- Co-owners have distinct, divisible shares of the property.

In 2015, Tony purchased a vacation property in his sole name in Kelowna.
- Initial investment: $300,000
- Current fair market value of the property: $550,000.
This year, he has decided to transfer half the ownership of the property to his son, Zachary.
  - Task: Calculate the taxable capital gain that Tony will incur on the transfer.
  - Formula for capital gain:
    - Capital Gain = Selling Price - Adjusted Basis
    - Adjusted basis for half the interest can be considered as half of the investment made, depending on exemptions and taxes applicable.