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Wills & Probate Law

We are solicitors in London WC2 and Gloucestershire UK

Our lawyers advise on Wills and Probate, including jointly-owned property

Wills and Probate

Joint Ownership of Property

If you own property jointly, whether it is a freehold property or a leasehold property, you will hold the property either as ‘beneficial joint tenants’ or as ‘tenants in common’.

If you hold the property as beneficial joint tenants, the whole property belongs to you and your co-owners jointly, i.e. you do not each have separate and distinct shares. If you wish to deal with the property, for example by selling or re-mortgaging, you must all act together as a single owner. You cannot deal with a share of the property unilaterally. Should any of the co-owners die, their interest in the property passes automatically to the surviving co-owners. As a beneficial joint tenant, you cannot leave a share of the co-owned property in your will.

The beneficial joint tenancy will be brought to an end if the property is sold, the whole property is transferred to one owner, or if one owner outlives all of the others. It should be noted that a beneficial joint tenancy can be converted into a tenancy in common and this can be done voluntarily by the parties, or involuntarily in certain circumstances. This is sometimes referred to as ‘severance of the joint tenancy’ and is usually done by a Notice of Severance or by either a new or amended trust deed entered into by all of the owners, though there are other methods of severance.

If you hold the property as tenants in common, the property belongs to you jointly, but each co-owner owns a separate and distinct share. You can deal with your share independently of your fellow co-owners, meaning that you can deal with your share as you wish. Crucially, you can leave your interest in the property to a beneficiary in your will, meaning that a person of your choosing rather than just the remaining co-owners can inherit your share in the property. However, whilst you can deal with your share of the property independently, all of the co-owners must be party to a transaction that deals with the whole property. Further to this, if you are the only surviving co-owner, you must appoint another person to act with you in any deed of sale or mortgage and that person will jointly receive any sale price or mortgage advance.

A tenancy in common does not automatically end when all the original owners have died. The tenancy in common will continue unless one person has become the owner of all the shares or the property is sold, in which case the tenancy in common will be terminated. A tenancy in common can also be terminated by conversion into a beneficial joint tenancy, which is usually done by a new or amended trust deed entered into by all of the owners.

If you wish to discuss any concerns regarding joint ownership of property, serving a Notice of Severance or leaving property in your will please do not hesitate to contact us.

To discuss your own situation or to make an appointment, contact one of the lawyers in the Private Client department, Felix Appelbe or Helen Freely on 020 7242 7000 or use the Contact Request Form.