David Burrows notes the complexities that surround the severance of joint tenancy
Two recent cases have illustrated the complexities of English property law where land is held jointly by co-owners (whether married or unmarried). Legal title is always held jointly; and the survivor will own the whole title. The beneficial interests can be severed so that the owners will generally have a half share each in the beneficial ownership of the property and in the proceeds of sale. On the death of one, the survivor holds the legal title alone. The severed beneficial interest vests in the dead owner’s estate: the survivor holds it in trust for the estate.
Title will normally be severed by written notice of severance (Law of Property Act 1925 (LPA 1925), s 36(2)); but Elements of Land Law by Gray and Gray, fifth edition (2009) (Gray) identifies six other methods of severance (in an area of law described by Gray as of “unnecessary complexity”: para 7.4.68). Those of immediate concern to the family lawyer will be: severance by “an act operating on the joint tenancy” (eg bankruptcy);
