But what are the differences
between these two types of
property ownership and why
do they matter to you?
In the context of joint
tenancy and tenants in
common ‘tenancy’ means
ownership and has nothing
to do with renting!
JOINT TENANCY
If you hold your property as joint
tenants with another person
this means that both owners
own 100% of the property, not
a divided share. You have equal
rights to the whole property,
and if the property is sold you
will each be entitled to an equal
share of the proceeds.
A joint tenancy creates rights
of survivorship. The result is
that when one owner dies
the remaining owners will
automatically own the whole
property; remember, they’ve
all always owned 100% of it.
This means that a joint tenant
cannot gift their interest in the
property to anyone by their Will.
TENANCY IN COMMON
If you hold your property as
tenants in common you will
each have a divided share in the
property. This is often an equal
share, but it is also possible to
hold the property in unequal
shares. This is an attractive
option for people purchasing
a property together and
contributing different amounts
towards the deposit.
Under a tenancy in common
each owner can deal with their
share in the property separately,
allowing them to gift their share
to their own beneficiaries by
their Will. This also opens up
more opportunities for planning
to protect their share of the
property by using trusts in their
Will.
WHAT DO I DO NOW?
If you aren’t sure how you hold
your property and you know
that your property is registered
your Will Writer can carry out
a check of your title deeds
to confirm this for you. If you
currently hold as joint tenants
and would like to change to
tenants in common the process
is relatively straight forward.
This is done by completing
a notice of severance and
sending a form for the Land
Registry to add a notice to your
title deeds.
The Society of Will Writers
17