A Deed of Severance is a document which changes the ownership of a property from being owned as Joint Tenants to being owned as Tenants in Common. Tenants in Common means each person has a definite share in the property (i.e for a couple, usually 50%-50%, but it doesn’t have to be), whereas being jointly owned (or Beneficial Joint Tenants) implies that each person owns 100%.
If you are joint owners and one of you dies, the other automatically becomes the sole owner of the house (despite any contrary intention in a Will). This is known as the “Right of Survivorship”. If the house is owned as Tenants in Common, however, it’s more akin to owning shares in a company. Your shares in the house are yours to leave in your Will, giving you more say for your share of the property.
If your Will includes an Estate Protection Trust, it is paramount that the property is owned as Tenants in Common – otherwise, your share cannot pass into the trust and won’t be protected from the usual threats of the beneficiaries (remarriage, divorce, care, etc.).
As part of our planning process, we check the ownership of your property with the Land Registry. If we think a Deed of Severance is appropriate, we discuss the details with you and can prepare the appropriate forms for you to sign. If you’re taking a Will with us, you can also upload a copy of the Deed of Severance to your Kinvault to ensure nothing gets lost and to reduce any potential complications later on; Although once the application is completed, the Tenants in Common ownership will be reflected on the property title deeds at the Land Registry.
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