Severence of a Joint Tenancy Great care should be taken when one party wishes to sever a joint tenancy. It is extremely easy to make a mistake so we strongly recommend you take legal advice before any attempt is made to sever. In one case (Kinch v Bullard(1998)) a terminally ill wife successfully severed a joint tenancy she held with her husband, even though she tried to stop this from happening after realising her husband was also terminally ill. After retrieving her letter giving notice of the severance from the property where her husband had lived, the husband’s executors brought an action against the wife to claim the joint tenancy had been validly severed. The court subsequently agreed with the executors in finding the joint tenancy had been severed, even though the deceased husband was not even aware of the wife’s letter. Consequently the wife was not entitled to the entire property as the surviving owner. Thus, a joint tenancy can be severed by either of the joint owners converting it into a tenancy in common. This could be considered by joint owners for example when a relationship has broken down. The severance of a joint tenancy should where possible be done by notice in accordance with section 36(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925, as amended by the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, namely:- “Where.. [land is owned by] ..joint tenants beneficially, and any tenant desires to sever the joint tenancy in equity, he shall give to the other tenants a notice in writing of such desire or do such other acts or things as would, in the case of personal estate, have been effectual to sever the tenancy in equity, and thereupon the land shall be held in trust on terms which would have been requisite for giving effect to the beneficial interests if there had been an actual severance..”. In a nutshell, this means that severance can be achieved in a number of ways. These include:- 1. written notice by one party to the other; 2. by agreement between the parties; 3. by one joint owner acting in such a way that his own share is intended to be held in common and not jointly. For further guidance please contact Chris Phillips on 020 7841 0123

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