Property Law Online

Wills and Trusts

Severance of joint tenancy

Change from joint tenants to tenants in common so your share passes under your will, not automatically to the co-owner. Fixed fee in writing.

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Severance of joint tenancy converts a jointly owned property from a joint tenancy into a tenancy in common, so that each owner holds a distinct share that passes under their will instead of automatically to the survivor. Property Law Online serves the notice and registers the change on a fixed fee across England and Wales.

Why instruct us

  • Fee agreed in writing before we start
  • Covering England and Wales

What does a severance of joint tenancy include?

Three documents and a check: the notice, the evidence of service, the HM Land Registry application, and a review of the will that the severed share now passes under.

  • Register check

    We obtain the register and confirm you currently hold as joint tenants. A Form A restriction already on the title means the work is different, and we tell you.

  • Notice of severance

    A written notice under section 36(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925, addressed to your co-owner, stating that you sever the joint tenancy with immediate effect.

  • Service and evidence

    Served by hand or by post to the co-owner's last known address in the way section 196 of the same Act permits, with the proof of posting or delivery kept on file. Registered post or recorded delivery is used, because that is the route section 196(4) deems served (checked 20 September 2026).

  • Form SEV at HM Land Registry

    Lodged to enter a Form A restriction on the register. Signed by both owners where you agree, or by you alone with a certificate that notice was served where you do not. What form SEV asks for.

  • Will review

    The severed share now passes under your will, so the will has to say where it goes. We check it, and draft a new one if it does not.

  • Deed of trust, where shares are unequal

    Severance produces equal shares by default. Where contributions were unequal, a deed of trust recording the actual shares is prepared at the same time.

Who needs to sever a joint tenancy?

Severance is a short piece of work with disproportionate consequences. It closes a gap that can open between what a will says and what the register allows: the will leaves a share of the home to the children, and the register hands the whole house to the co-owner. If the register says joint tenants, the will loses.

Parents with children from an earlier relationship
To make sure a share of the home reaches your children rather than passing to your partner and, through them, to whoever they later choose. Usually paired with a life interest in your will.
Anyone separating or divorcing
Until the joint tenancy is severed, an estranged spouse still takes the whole house by survivorship if you die, and a divorce order does not sever it for you. A notice of severance closes that gap on the day it is served, without their agreement. Removing a name after divorce covers the transfer that usually follows.
Owners with unequal contributions
A joint tenancy has no shares at all. To reflect who paid what, you sever and record the actual shares in a deed of trust.
Couples doing estate planning
As part of a wider arrangement with mirror wills and a trust over a share of the home, so that each share can be dealt with separately on death.
Friends or siblings who own together
Survivorship rarely reflects what co-owning friends or siblings intend. Severing lets each leave their share to their own family.
Not right for
Owners whose register already shows a Form A restriction, you are already tenants in common and need a deed of trust or a will, not a severance, and anyone hoping to shield a share from care fees, where the position is fact-sensitive and we say so before you instruct.

How does severance of a joint tenancy work?

Four stages. Severance takes effect when the notice is served, not when the register is updated, so the evidence of service is the part that matters most.

  1. Register checked

    We obtain the official copy of the register and confirm the property is held as joint tenants with no Form A restriction already entered.

    Day 1

  2. Notice prepared and served

    The notice is drafted and served on your co-owner, by hand or by post, and the evidence of service is kept. Severance takes effect on service, whether or not the co-owner agrees or replies.

    Week 1

  3. Form SEV lodged

    The application for a Form A restriction is submitted to HM Land Registry, with the notice and evidence of service where the co-owner has not signed. HM Land Registry charges no fee for this application, under Schedule 4 paragraph 13 to the Land Registration Fee Order 2024. Checked 20 September 2026.

    Week 1 to 2, then HM Land Registry processing

  4. Will and shares reviewed

    Your will is checked so the severed share goes where you intend, and a deed of trust is prepared if the shares should be anything other than equal.

    Week 2 to 3

What does severance of a joint tenancy cost?

Property Law Online is not yet taking instructions, so there is no fee to quote today. This section explains how the cost of this work is usually made up.

Severance is one fixed fee, quoted in writing before you instruct us. It covers the register check, the notice, service, form SEV and the will review. Tell us whether your co-owner agrees and whether you also need a will or a deed of trust, and we reply by email.

Usually covered by the professional fee

  • Official copy of the register and check of the current tenancy
  • Notice of severance drafted and served
  • Evidence of service kept on file
  • Form SEV prepared and lodged at HM Land Registry
  • Review of your existing will

Paid to others, passed on at cost

  • A new will, if the review shows you need one, quoted alongside
  • A deed of trust recording unequal shares
  • HM Land Registry fee for the official copy of the register, set by the fee order
  • Tracing an absent co-owner, where their address is unknown

What can add to it: a co-owner who cannot be found, a property held by more than two people, or a will that needs redrafting to deal with the severed share. Each is quoted before you instruct, never afterwards.

What happens if you do not sever?

  • The survivor takes everything, whatever the will says

    On the first death, the whole property passes to the co-owner by survivorship. The will's gift of a share to children or anyone else simply fails, because there is no share for it to bite on.

  • An estranged spouse inherits the house

    Separation has no effect on survivorship. Until the joint tenancy is severed, a spouse you have not lived with for years takes the whole home if you die first, and your will cannot stop it. A divorce order does not sever a joint tenancy by itself. Nothing in the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 or the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 severs one, and although a final order makes a will take effect as if the former spouse had died, under section 18A of the Wills Act 1837, survivorship operates outside the will and is untouched by it (checked 20 September 2026).

  • Children of a first relationship lose out

    The surviving partner takes the house outright and can leave it, or give it, to whoever they choose. There is no trust, no share and no claim for the children of the partner who died first, other than a court application with a strict deadline.

  • Unequal contributions vanish

    A joint tenancy has no shares. The person who put in most of the deposit owns exactly what the other does, and on death their family receives nothing for it. Only severance plus a deed of trust records what was actually paid.

What is the difference between joint tenants and tenants in common?

Joint tenants own the whole property together with no defined shares, and on death the survivor takes everything automatically, outside the will. Tenants in common each own a defined share, equal or otherwise, that passes under their will or intestacy. The legal title is held on trust in both cases; what differs is who owns the beneficial interest and what happens to it on death. Joint tenants or tenants in common covers the choice in full.

Severance moves you from the first column to the second. It does not change who can live in the property, who is liable on the mortgage, or who must sign to sell it.

Joint tenantsTenants in common
SharesNone, you own the whole togetherDefined: equal by default, or as a deed of trust records
On deathSurvivor takes everything automaticallyYour share passes under your will or intestacy
Can a will deal with itNoYes
On the registerNo restrictionA Form A restriction
Selling after a deathSurvivor sells aloneSurvivor plus a second trustee to give a valid receipt
Right to occupyBoth ownersBoth owners
Changing laterSever to tenants in common, unilaterallyBack to joint tenants only by agreement of all owners

Can I sever a joint tenancy without my co-owner agreeing?

Yes. Section 36(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925 lets any joint tenant sever by giving written notice to the others, and it takes effect on service without their consent. The co-owner cannot refuse it or undo it, and ignoring it makes no difference; they can only respond by making their own will. The notice must reach them, though, which is why service and its evidence matter. Section 196 of the same Act allows service by leaving the notice at the co-owner's last known abode or by registered post, and the notice is treated as served when it would ordinarily be delivered, even if the co-owner does not read it. The deeming in section 196(4) carries a proviso that matters: it applies only if the letter is not returned undelivered, so a notice that comes back in the post is not served and has to be served again by another route (checked 20 September 2026).

HM Land Registry then needs to know. Form SEV can be signed by both owners if you agree; if not, you sign alone and certify that notice was served, attaching the notice and the proof. Panel 7 of form SEV, edition 08/23, sets out what will do: the notice with a signed acknowledgement of receipt, or a certificate that it was served in accordance with the Act (checked 20 September 2026). The co-owner's permission is not needed. Whether the registry writes to them about the application is not something any published source states either way.

Does severing a joint tenancy protect my share from care home fees?

Sometimes, and only partly. Once severed, your share can be left in your will on a life interest trust for your partner, so that on your death it is held for your children rather than owned outright by the survivor. If the survivor later needs care, their assessment includes their own share of the home but not the share held in trust for your children. A financial assessment looks at what a person owns beneficially, and property held on trust for someone else is not theirs (Care and Support Statutory Guidance, Annex B, updated 22 July 2025, checked 20 September 2026). That guidance is made under the Care Act 2014 and applies in England only. In Wales the assessment is made under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and the Care and Support (Charging) (Wales) Regulations 2015, which are a separate regime, so a Welsh reader should take advice on the Welsh rules rather than these. That is legitimate planning where it is done in a will for the ordinary reasons a will is made. It does not save inheritance tax: where the survivor takes an immediate post death interest, section 49A of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 treats them as beneficially entitled to the trust fund, so it still counts in their estate on the second death.

What does not work is severing and giving a share away during your lifetime to avoid fees you can already see coming: the deliberate deprivation rules let a local authority treat the asset as still yours. There is no seven year rule here, whatever the inheritance tax position: the charging rules set no time limit on how far back a local authority may look, and what matters is what the person was expecting when they made the gift. Which side of the line an arrangement sits on is something to settle before the deed is signed, not afterwards.

How long does severance take?

Severance itself takes effect on the day the notice is served, usually within a week of instructions. HM Land Registry then enters the Form A restriction when it processes form SEV. That is an application to update an existing register. HM Land Registry publishes current processing times; check GOV.UK for the figure on the day you apply. The register entry is protective, not constitutive: your share passes under your will from the date of service, whether or not the restriction is on the title yet.

What changes the timescale

  • Whether your co-owner signs form SEV or the notice has to be served on them
  • Whether the co-owner's address is known
  • Whether a new will or a deed of trust is being prepared at the same time
  • HM Land Registry processing times at the time of lodging

Frequently asked questions

Can I sever a joint tenancy myself?

Yes. Form SEV is published by HM Land Registry, there is no fee, and a written notice you draft yourself is effective if properly served. The risks are a notice that does not meet section 36(2), no evidence of service, and a will that still does not say where the severed share goes. A conveyancer can deal with all three together.

Do I have to tell my co-owner?

Yes. Service of the notice on the co-owner is what makes severance effective, so it cannot be done secretly. What you do not need is their agreement: the notice takes effect whether they consent, object or ignore it. Form SEV can then be lodged by you alone with proof that the notice was served.

What documents do you need from me?

The property address or title number, your co-owner's full name and current or last known address, a copy of your existing will if you have one, and, where contributions were unequal, a note of who paid what. We obtain the official copy of the register ourselves and draft everything else.

What share do I get on severance?

Equal shares by default: two owners become tenants in common in equal halves, three in equal thirds. If your contributions were unequal and you want the shares to reflect that, a deed of trust recording the actual shares should be entered into at the same time. Severance alone does not fix the percentages.

Does severance change who can live in the property or who pays the mortgage?

No. Both owners keep the same right to occupy, the mortgage is unchanged and the lender does not need to consent. Both still have to sign to sell. The only thing that changes is what happens to each share on death, and the Form A restriction on the register that records it.

Can severance be reversed?

Yes, but only by agreement. All owners can transfer the property to themselves as joint tenants again and apply to cancel the Form A restriction. Unlike severance, it cannot be done by one owner alone, so it is worth being sure before serving the notice.

What if my co-owner has died already?

Then it is too late to sever by notice: survivorship has already operated and the property is yours outright. If the death is recent and the family wants a different result, a deed of variation may be able to redirect the estate for tax purposes, but it cannot revive a joint tenancy. We advise on what is still possible.

Should I make a new will at the same time?

Almost always. The whole point of severing is that your share now passes under your will, so the will has to say where it goes and, usually, give your partner a right to stay. A will that predates the severance may not do either. We review it as part of the fixed fee and tell you if it needs redrafting.

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