“Legal Corner” is our semi-regular feature where the Technical Team pick out a small selection of recent queries to publish. This time it’s three quick-fire questions relating to severing tenancies. All queries have been anonymised where necessary.
Question:
I have recently reviewed cases from a previous company I have worked with and it looks as though some if not all of the Land Registry severances of tenancy have not been completed. On the LR search through the government website, there does not look to be a restriction in place. Can I clarify if this would invalidate the will ?
Answer:
As long as the actual notice of severance was signed by the clients then the severance is effective and they hold as tenants in common from that date.
The Form A restriction should be entered on the title so it is obvious to anyone viewing the title in future that there is a tenancy in common, but the restriction not being there doesn’t invalidate their wills or mean that they are still joint tenants.
Question:
I have checked the LR title documents and this client’s property does not appear there. I can only assume it is unregistered.
What I thought is that I can still have her and her husband sign the notice of severance and keep in her Will.
I can advise her that in the meantime she can take steps to have the property registered via a solicitor. As I assume with a title number I can’t really send a severance form to the land registry.
Answer:
If it does not appear on the land registry then it is likely the property is unregistered.
You can have them sign a notice of severance, but a SEV form cannot be submitted as the property is unregistered
Question:
A married woman wants to sever the tenancy on the property she owns with her husband, but her husband doesn’t want to sign anything.
She would like to sever the tenancy unilaterally. What should she be sending into the land registry?
Answer:
Here are the documents that will need to be sent to HM Land Registry when applying to sever the joint tenancy unilaterally:
- Form SEV
- The original or a certified copy of the notice of severance
- A certificate confirming that the notice was served on the husband (e.g., recorded delivery receipt / acknowledgement)
There is currently no fee payable for this application.
