Owning a home with someone else can feel straightforward until you ask a difficult question: what happens to your share if you die first? Knowing how to sever joint tenancy can make a major difference to who inherits your interest in the property. For many couples, especially those with children from an earlier relationship, it is an essential step in making sure a carefully written will can do its job.
This is not about forcing a sale or removing somebody from the deeds. Severing a joint tenancy changes the way you own the beneficial interest in a property. It can give you control over your share and prevent it passing automatically to the other owner on your death.
What does joint tenancy mean?
Joint tenancy is one of the two common ways for people to own a property together in England and Wales. Despite the name, it has nothing to do with being tenants of a rented home.
If you and another person own a property as joint tenants, you each own the whole property together. There are no separate shares, even if one of you paid more towards the deposit or mortgage. The key feature is the right of survivorship. When one joint owner dies, their interest passes automatically to the surviving owner or owners.
That happens outside the terms of a will. So, if a husband and wife own their home as joint tenants, the first person to die cannot leave their share of the house to their children, a trust or anyone else. The surviving joint owner becomes entitled to the whole property.
For many married couples, this is exactly what they want. It can keep matters simple when the first person dies. But it may not suit every family situation.
Why sever a joint tenancy?
When you sever a joint tenancy, you usually become tenants in common. This means each owner has a distinct beneficial share in the property, often 50/50 but not always. Each person can then leave their own share in their will.
A common example involves a couple where one or both have children from a previous relationship. If the home remains owned as joint tenants, the survivor inherits it all automatically. If they later make a new will, remarry, need care, or face financial difficulties, the children of the first person to die may never receive an inheritance from that home.
By contrast, tenants in common can leave a share of the property in a will. That share might be left directly to children, or placed in a life interest trust. A properly drafted trust can allow the surviving partner to remain living in the property while protecting the first person’s share for their chosen beneficiaries later.
Severance may also be considered when a relationship breaks down, where owners contributed unequal amounts, or where someone wants their share to pass under their own estate planning arrangements. It is not automatically the right choice, however. The survivor will no longer inherit the deceased person’s share outright by survivorship, so both owners should understand the consequences.
How to sever joint tenancy: the usual process
For a registered property, the practical process normally has two parts. First, a written notice of severance is prepared and served on the other joint owner or owners. Second, the change should be recorded with HM Land Registry by applying for a restriction on the title.
Serve a written notice of severance
A notice of severance should be in writing and make clear that the person serving it intends to sever the joint tenancy immediately. It should identify the property and the owners. Vague wording about what might happen in the future is unlikely to be enough.
You do not need the other owner’s agreement to sever your beneficial joint tenancy. This can matter where separating partners do not agree on what should happen to the house. However, the notice must be properly served. It may be handed to the other owner, left at their last known home or business address, or sent by post. Keeping evidence of service is sensible, particularly where the relationship is strained.
If there are more than two joint owners, each of the other owners should receive notice. The legal rules around service can be technical, so professional advice is wise if an owner cannot be found, lacks mental capacity, or there is a dispute about whether notice was received.
Apply for a Form A restriction
Once notice has been served, an application is usually made to HM Land Registry for a Form A restriction. This does not change the legal owners named on the title register. Instead, it alerts anyone dealing with the property that it is held as tenants in common, rather than beneficial joint tenants.
The restriction generally states that no sale or transfer by a sole registered proprietor can be registered unless authorised by the court. Its purpose is to help protect the interests of the people entitled to shares in the property.
The Land Registry application is often made using Form SEV, with the appropriate supporting evidence. Depending on the circumstances, an application may be made by one owner alone or jointly by the owners. Forms and requirements can change, and mistakes may delay registration, so it is worth checking the current Land Registry guidance or asking a solicitor or conveyancer to deal with the process.
What severance does not do
Severing a joint tenancy does not remove someone from the mortgage. If both of you borrowed to buy the property, you are normally still jointly responsible for the mortgage repayments unless the lender formally agrees otherwise.
It also does not create a right to make the other owner leave, force an immediate sale, or decide the value of each person’s share. Those issues are separate and can become complex after a separation.
Nor does severance necessarily mean you physically divide the home. In most cases, you continue to own one property together, but with separate beneficial shares. A sale, transfer or buy-out may happen later, but it is not part of the severance itself.
Can you sever joint tenancy through your will?
No. A will cannot sever a joint tenancy after death because the right of survivorship takes effect immediately when a joint owner dies. By the time the will is considered, their interest has already passed to the survivor.
This is why action during your lifetime matters. If your will leaves “my share of my home” to your children but the property is still held as joint tenants, that gift will usually fail. You did not have a separate share available to pass on under the will.
If you have already severed the tenancy, your will should be checked or updated to reflect your intentions. Without a valid will, your beneficial share will pass under the intestacy rules, which may not match your wishes. For example, an unmarried partner does not automatically inherit under intestacy, no matter how long you have lived together.
Think carefully before changing ownership
Severance can be a sensible protective measure, but it should form part of a wider plan. Consider who should inherit your share, whether the surviving owner needs security in the home, and whether your estate may face claims from other family members.
For a couple with adult children and a straightforward estate, leaving each share directly to children may be appropriate. For a surviving spouse or partner who needs to remain in the home, a life interest trust can offer a different balance. It can protect the deceased’s share for children while allowing the survivor to live there, subject to the terms of the trust.
There may also be tax, care-fee and family-law considerations. Severing a joint tenancy is not a guaranteed way to protect a property from care costs, creditors or claims in a divorce. Deliberately giving away assets or changing arrangements to avoid liabilities can have serious consequences. Get tailored legal advice where your circumstances are anything other than straightforward.
Check how your property is owned first
Do not rely on what you remember signing when you bought the property. Your title register may show a Form A restriction, which is a useful indication that the beneficial ownership is already held as tenants in common. If there is no restriction, that does not always provide a complete answer, particularly where a declaration of trust was made when the property was purchased.
Your conveyancing paperwork, declaration of trust and title documents can help establish the position. If you are uncertain, a solicitor or conveyancer can confirm how the beneficial interest is held and advise whether severance is needed.
A home is often the largest asset a family owns. Taking the time to check the ownership, record any change correctly and make a will that matches it is a practical act of care. It gives your family clearer instructions at a time when uncertainty can be painful and expensive.