Joint Ownership of Property

What are your options?

The two options available to you when owning a property jointly are ‘Joint Owners’ (otherwise known as Joint Tenants) or ‘Owners in Shares’ (otherwise known as Tenants in Common). Let’s take a further look into what each of these legal terms entail.

Joint Owners

As Joint Owners, you will have entirely equal shares in the property. Even if you put in an unequal amount of money into the purchase, you will still have equal shares. 

You will need to understand that if one of you dies, the share in property automatically goes to the other shareholder, giving them full ownership. This overrides the deceased’s will.  When the remaining owner dies, the entire value of the property follows the instructions left in their will only.

Owners in Shares

As Owner in Shares, you can choose the proportion of shares each owner holds in the property. For example, you may still choose 50%/50% shares or you may wish for a 60%/40% split. This is common when owners have put an unequal amount of money towards the purchase of the property.

You will be able to set an agreement at the start of the joint ownership that  the proportions of each share can change. This may be desirable if one of you will pay more off the mortgage or carry out improvements on the property. You will also be able to allow one shareholder to buy out the other’s share by agreeing on a price together, or by a valuer. 

In this case, if one of you dies the deceased’s share will go to whoever they instructed their share to in their will. This means it will be easier to leave your share to a spouse, child or another person of your choosing. You can still leave your share to the other joint owner. 

If you would like to ensure that the property cannot be sold until the other owner would like to sell, or passes away, we recommend filling out a ‘Declaration of Trust’ which can be prepared separately.

Changing Ownership Type

If you wish to convert from Joint Ownership to Owners in Shares, you must complete a ‘notice of Severance’. This is the process of supplying the other owner of your property with a written notice, saying that you ‘Sever the Joint Ownership’. From the moment the notice has been served, you will have successfully converted to Owners in Shares. Regardless of how much you contributed to the property, the shares will be held equally. 

You will not need the agreement of the other owner to sever the joint ownership and in some cases, even if the other owner does not receive a correctly sent out notice, it will still be served. Situations such as Bankruptcy will automatically sever the Joint Ownership. 

Whether you are looking to sever the Joint Tenancy or you have been dealt a Notice of Severance, it is highly recommended you seek legal advice. The Notice of Severance will need to be noted at the Land Registry. You’ll also want to protect your share in the property, especially if you don’t agree that the shares should be held equally.

You can contact PDR online or call us on 01733 203873 with any questions and we’ll be able to offer expert advice and a conveyancing quote services to help you.