J
joint tenancy
A type of concurrent ownership where two or more people own one property interest together and each person has exactly the same rights in that interest. The interests in a joint tenancy must vest at the same time, title must be acquired through the same instrument (deed), the interests must be equal, and each tenant must have the right to possess the entire property subject to the rights of the co-tenant. • A joint tenancy may or may not have a right of survivorship. • Some states abolished joint tenancies. For example, Alaska Stat. § 34.15.130 (Join tenancy abolished) abolishes joint tenancies for real property: “Joint tenancy, with the except of interests in personalty and tenancy by the entirety is abolished. Except as provided in AS 34.15.110(b) and AS 34.77.100, persons having an undivided interest in real property are considered tenants in common.” • Other states retain joint tenancy as a concurrent ownership classification but abolish the right of survivorship. Tenn. Code § 66-1-107 (Survivorship in joint tenancy abolished): “In all estates, real and personal, held in joint tenancy, the part or share of any tenant dying shall not descend or go to the surviving tenant or tenants, but shall descend or be vested in the heirs, executors, or administrators, respectively, of the tenant so dying, in the same manner as estates held by tenancy in common.”
joint tenancy with right of survivorship
A joint tenancy that carries the right of survivorship, which means the property automatically goes to the surviving owner by operation of law, rather than descending to the decedent-owners’ heirs or being transferred by the decedent-owner’s will.
joint will
“A joint will is one instrument executed by two persons as the will of both—that is, one will for two people. When one testator dies, the instrument is probated as the testator’s will; when the other testator dies, the instrument is again probated, this time as the other testator’s will. A joint will is relatively uncommon; well-counseled testators do not use them. . . . [J]oint wills are notorious litigation-breeders that should not be used at all.” Jesse Dukeminier et al., Wills, Trusts, and Estates (7th ed. 2005).
Juneteenth
A holiday that celebrates the emancipation of Black Americans from enslavement. • In 2021, President Joe Biden signed a law making June 19th a federal holiday. See Todd J. Gillman, Biden signs law making Juneteenth a federal holiday, marking end of slavery in Texas long after emancipation, The Dallas Morning News, June 17, 2021 (Apple News link).
junk bonds
Riskier bonds that are often issued by high-risk private companies. • “[B]onds with lower credit qualities [that] have the downside of increased credit or default risk.” Paul S. Lee, Implementing Total Return Trusts (2002). • “[H]igh-yield debt with doubled-digit changes of impairment.” Mitchell Martin, How Bond Laddering Can Keep You From Having An SVB Portfolio, Forbes, April 8, 2023 (Apple News link). • Also called “high-yield bonds.”
jurisdiction
The authority of a court to hear and decide a case.