Co-owners can hold the property in one of two ways:
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As joint tenants
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As tenants in common
“Joint tenants”and “tenants in common” are ways of describing how co-owners own the property, the terms have a different legal meaning to the type of tenant who rents a property from a landlord.
If you hold the property as joint tenants, both of you will own the whole of the property. You will not each have a quantified share in the property and will not be able to leave a share of the property in your will.
If you sell the property, or if you separate, it will be presumed that you both own the property equally, regardless of your respective contributions to the purchase price. On the death of one co-owner, their interest in the property would automatically pass to the remaining co-owner without any further action. The surviving co-owner would then own all of the property and on their death, it would form part of their estate. This is known as the “right of survivorship”.
There are reasons not to become joint tenants. For example, if one of you has made a larger contribution to the purchase price of the property and you would want this to be recognised if the property is sold or if you separate. A joint tenancy is also not suitable if you have a family from an earlier marriage and wish to leave your interest in the property to them, instead of passing it to the other co-owner.
If you decide to hold the property as joint tenants but then wish to split your interests, you can “sever” the joint tenancy and turn it into a tenancy in common at any time. This is called ‘severance of joint tenancy’. It is also possible for tenants in common to become joint tenants at a later date by entering into a new declaration of trust.
You should be aware that if you decide to hold the property as joint tenants:
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Either party can sever the joint tenancy without the other’s agreement.
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The joint tenancy may be severed automatically in several situations, including where one party becomes bankrupt.
Steps to Severe a Joint Tenancy:
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Send this Notice to Severe Joint Tenancy to the other joint tenant
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Download and fill in form SEV to register a restriction
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Prepare any supporting documents required
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Send the form and supporting documents to HM Land Registry’s Citizen Centre.
This Notice to Severe Joint Tenancy is fully comprehensive and shall be used to severe a joint tenancy converting it into a tenancy in common.
This Notice to Severe Joint Tenancy is in Microsoft Word format, written in plain English easy to use and edit.
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