Joint Tenancy, Tenants in Common

When multiple people own property or Land, this is known as being co-owners. 

There are two different types of Co-owners:

• Joint Tenants and;
• Tenants in Common

Joint Tenancy

In a Joint Tenancy, each person has a unified share in the property. Therefore, under a Joint Tenancy, each and all the co-owners are equally entitled to the whole property. The result of this means that if one of the co-owners dies the surviving co-owner or owners will then share the full property, this is known as the right to survivorship. 

Tenants in common

When Co-owners hold property as Tenants in Common, this means that unlike Joint Tenants, they have a defined and distinct share of the property. 

Severing a Joint Tenancy 

Co-owners who are Joint Tenants can Sever the Tenancy in multiple ways; however, for this article, we will discuss severing Tenancy by Mutual Agreement or Mutual Conduct.

Mutual Agreement

Joint Tenants can agree to sever their Joint Tenancy. The agreement we advise is being in writing, and correctly worded to avoid any ambiguity.  

Mutual Conduct

Another way to sever a Joint Tenancy is through a “course of dealing”. A typical “course of dealing” is a Mutual/Joint Will. A Mutual Will gives the Co-owners opportunity to create a binding contract severing the Tenancy and therefore can distribute their share of the property withing having to follow survivorship.

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