The form of ownership of real property afforded to married couples in North Carolina. It offers extremely important protection for the property from creditors, because a lien or judgment against one of the spouses will not attach to the property, which is technically owned by the marital unit. It also means that when one spouse dies, the other owns the property completely. Neither spouse can independently sell or encumber the property, nor leave any part of it to a third party in a will. While both spouses are alive, a tenancy by the entirety can be destroyed only by an action taken by both spouses legally changing to another form of ownership – or by divorce.
