JOINT TENANCY MEANS that there is a right of survivorship so when one tenant dies the survivor automatically becomes the sole owner of the property.
A new deed is not prepared or issued, rather the surviving tenant should record a certified copy of the death certificate for the deceased tenant noting in the left hand margin of the death certificate the street address/town and title reference of the property owned by the deceased.
That recorded death certificate will be forwarded to the town assessor's office and the property tax records and bills will be changed accordingly. The surviving tenant's title will still be the original deed by which you and your friend became owners of the property. That deed together with the recorded death certificate would show that the surviving tenant is the sole owner of the property.
"Tenants in common" means the interest of the deceaced passes to his/her estate and not automatically to the surviving tenant. In the case where two persons own a property as tenants in common and one dies, the survivor has a one-half interest in the property and the heirs-at-law of the deceased (determined by probate) own the other one-half interest.
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