Notice of severance of a joint tenancy

If you own a property jointly with a spouse or partner, you’ll either own it as ‘joint tenants’ or ‘tenants in common’.

If you own your property as joint tenants and one of you dies, the surviving partner becomes the sole owner of the whole property, regardless of what is stated in the deceased partner’s will.

Tenants in common each have separate ownership of their share of the property. This means that, if one partner passes away, their share goes to whoever is named in their will (this could be children from a previous relationship, for example).

If you own your property as joint tenants, but would like to make sure that some or all of your stake in your home is left to someone else in the event of your death, you may wish to convert or ‘sever’ the joint tenancy to become tenants in common.

You can use our simple document to sever a joint tenancy. You’ll get two copies of the notice of severance, an SEV form and a covering letter to inform the Land Registry of the change.

Please note that this document can only be used in relation to property in England and Wales that has two joint tenants. Land Registry forms are reproduced with the permission of HM Land Registry.