How to choose between joint tenants and tenants in common

Co-owners in England and Wales hold property one of two ways, and the difference decides what happens when one of you dies. Joint tenants own the whole thing together: if one dies, the property passes automatically to the survivor, regardless of any will. Tenants in common own defined shares: your share is yours to leave in your will, and nothing passes automatically. The choice is made at purchase, usually in one tick-box conversation with your conveyancer, and it is worth five minutes of actual thought. This is general information rather than legal advice.

Survivorship is the whole difference

The government guidance on joint property ownership puts it plainly: joint tenants have equal rights to the whole property and cannot pass on ownership in a will, while tenants in common can own different shares and can will them. Survivorship is clean and immediate, which is why married couples buying with equal money usually choose joint tenancy: the home passes outside the estate, so the survivor is not waiting on probate to deal with it, and no drafting is needed.

The flip side is loss of control. A will only governs a share held as tenants in common, which is why will-writing appointments for co-owners so often end with a severance form.

Tenants in common suits everyone else. Unequal deposits, friends or siblings buying together, second marriages where each partner wants their share to reach their own children: in all of these, automatic survivorship would send money to the wrong place.

Unequal deposits need a deed of trust

Owning as tenants in common in unequal shares only works if the shares are recorded, and that is the job of a declaration of trust, a short deed your conveyancer draws up at purchase stating who owns what and how sale proceeds split. HM Land Registry's own practice guidance expects unequal shares to be set out in a separate declaration of trust.

The worked example makes the case. Two friends buy at £250,000 with a £200,000 joint mortgage; one puts in £40,000, the other £10,000. They sell later at £300,000, leaving £100,000 equity.

The deed costs a modest fixed fee at purchase; the argument later costs a lawsuit.

Changing your mind later

You can convert from joint tenants to tenants in common at any time, called severing the joint tenancy, and the gov.uk severance guidance confirms you do not need the other owner's agreement: you serve a written notice of severance and apply to the Land Registry on form SEV for a Form A restriction, with no fee. The restriction stops a sole surviving owner selling alone without appointing a second trustee, which is how the shares stay protected.

Severance is standard housekeeping on separation, and increasingly common estate planning for older couples who want each half of the house to pass under a will rather than automatically. Going the other way, from tenants in common to joint tenants, needs everyone's consent.

Scotland runs on different rules

All of the above is England and Wales terminology. In Scotland, title deeds can include a survivorship destination that passes a share automatically on death, and the joint tenant and tenant in common labels do not apply, so take Scottish advice for a Scottish purchase.

If you are buying with unequal money, tell your conveyancer at the quote stage, not the week of exchange, so the trust deed is priced and drafted alongside the purchase. Ask any conveyancer who quotes you whether their fee already covers drafting the deed, since it's easy to miss and awkward to add on later.