


The type of ownership/tenureship is important for some estate planning exercises.
Where a property is owned as ‘joint tenants’ then on the death of the first owner the deceased owner’s share of the property automatically goes into the name of the surviving owner’s name. This automatic transfer overrides any gift of a share contained within the deceased owner’s will.
Compare that with a property owned as ‘tenants in common’. On the first death the deceased’s will may place their share of the property into say a trust fund for their children. Or, they may just give it away to their children. Importantly they can dispose of their share however they wish. ‘Tenants in Common’ therefore allows a person to be in control of their assets, rather than allowing the law to dictate what is to happen to them.
This feature of ‘tenants in common’ therefore provides estate planning opportunities that would not otherwise be available. Changing your jointly owned property from ‘Joint Tenants’ to ‘Tenants in Common’ should be considered for tax planning, long term care planning, divorce defence, when remarried, by cohabiting partners, and / or where their are step children.
There are however downsides to severing the tenancy of your property too. You should
be aware of them. An experienced will-
If you use our home-
We discuss property tenancy (and the need to severe it) with you when making
your will -
More details of our home-

