updated
03 January 2012
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Severing a Joint Tenancy
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Severing a Joint Tenancy
updated
03 January 2012
Severing a
joint tenancy is the process by which you convert a
joint tenancy
into a tenancy in common. It is a relatively straightforward process
and we have prepared all the draft documents you need, so that you can do it
yourself and save on legal fees. Our DIY How to Sever a Joint Tenancy Pack has been downloaded and used
by hundreds of our readers to sever their joint tenancy for a fraction of the cost
of getting a solicitor to do it for them.
So what's the difference between a joint tenancy and a tenancy in common, and why would I need to sever anything?
If you own your property as joint tenants then each of you jointly own the entire property (technically it is held by you in trust for yourselves!). The consequence of this is that upon the death of one party their interest in the property passes automatically to the survivor. It is therefore usual for married couples for example to buy a property as joint tenants. However if they then split up it is unlikely that they would wish their other half to automatically take their “share” in the property if they were to die. Separating couples should therefore, usually, sever the joint tenancy and become tenants in common, until such time as the property is sold or transferred fully from one party to the other.
If you hold a property as tenants in common, this means that each owner has a distinct share in the property. If there are two owners this will automatically be half each. Alternatively you can decide between yourselves what share of the property belongs to each owner. The important point is that each of the tenants in common always owns their share of the property, and they are only entitled to that percentage of the sale proceeds, if sold during their lifetime. If they die then their share of the property forms part of their estate. It does not automatically pass to the other owner.
How do I know if I am a joint tenant?
You will need to check on your Title Document. If you have a mortgage then
this will be held by your mortgage company, but for £4 you can now check your
Title online at
https://www.landregistry.gov.uk/wps/portal/Property_Search. The Proprietorship Register will show the
names of the people that own the property and, if you are tenants in common
will also have the wording
"No disposition by a sole proprietor of the
registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises
is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court".
If there is no such wording in the Title Document then you are almost certainly
joint tenants.
How to sever a joint tenancy?
In
order to sever a joint tenancy and create a tenancy in common a notice of
severance needs to be served by one owner on the other owner of the property. We have prepared a
draft notice of severance in Word format which you can access and download (see
below). This will need to be completed by you. Please note that this does not
apply to property held in Scotland.
The completed notice then needs to be served (given or delivered to them) on the other party,
together with a "without prejudice" letter (also part of our pack).
Once the notice has been served the joint tenancy has been severed and there is
nothing that the other owner can do to prevent this.
Once the tenancy has been severed you should notify the Land Registry (assuming the Property is registered) in writing of the severance using the new form SEV (which replaced the old RX1 form as from November 2008). You can download a blank from from the Land Registry website. We will also supply you with a copy of a completed sample SEV form. There is no Land Registry fee payable for this application.
For the fee of £9.99 you can have online access to our Severing a Joint Tenancy Pack which includes
the draft notice of severance
the draft letter you can use to send it,
plus full instructions on how to complete them,
the drafted sample SEV form.
You can then very easily prepare your own notice of severance and send it with the necessary covering letter, and then advise the Land Registry once the joint tenancy has been severed.
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DOX is a trading name of Law Stuff Ltd, registered as company number 4065459,
whose registered office is at Tower House, Tower Street, Chichester PO19 1QH
