Most houses are bought and held jointly, but this can later become inappropriate, and it becomes necessary to sever, or to split, the joint tenancy, and to hold the house as tenants in common. The interests in the house are then held in separate, distinct, shares which can, for example be left by will, and may not be equal.
Severance can happen automatically, but it is best to serve a clear notice.
This note sets out to explain our form of notice. Severance happens as soon as the notice is served, and is effective even if the other party does nothing. Our notices will not always set the shares in which the house will be held, saying that this remains to be decided. Notices often need to be served quickly, and may be followed by court proceedings. If a share is specified too early, this can cause further disagreement or difficulty.