Coparcenary refers to a type of property ownership where multiple people inherit the same property, and each person owns an undivided, transferable interest in the property. The term coparcenary has mostly been replaced with tenancy in common. The two both have English common law origins, and tenancy in common evolved to be almost indistinguishable from coparcenary except tenancy in common does not have to arise from inheritance. In its original form, coparcenary normally only applied in situations where daughters were the only heirs because under primogeniture a male heir would inherit the estate.
[Last updated in June of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]