sludge re joint tenancy

[josieann]

Thanks once agin sludge.  What you are saying I would of thought so. Obviously I havent gone into details about my situation but it is one which because my ex severed joint tenancy ie as a way of stating he wants a fifty percent share even though he has not contributed to the mortgage or bills for five years.  For me to accept this I would be agreeing he owned 50 per cent.  My arguement is that I have never agreed to this but my solicitor is still saying that there is nothing I can do that is why i ned something concrete to point at.  Would your argument go down in a court of law,

  My problem is i was trying to sort this out but he died, hence his new wife of six months claiming half my property.  And as you know property prices have spiralled in the last eight years which will not leave me enough to buy a place for myself if she wins

[Sludge]

Hello josieann. To be able to answer you I have to know in whose name(s) the property is currently Registered at the Land Registry. If you do not know I will tell you how to quickly find out if you have a credit/debit card (it costs �2).

[Peter Pedant]

Hi Josie Ann, I have come late to your discussion. I have checked your previous postings and it is clear that your and your other one are holding a free hold, holding it jointly (joint tenants).

If this is the case...then one party can sever the jointure and convert it to a commonalty, just by issuing a document (=notice). Agreement is not necessary.

I know this posting is NOT what you want to hear, as one answerbanker is saying "X "and another one has just popped in and said, "erm, sorry, ~X" And clearly both of us cannot be right.

Oh and finally the only document that does not serve to sever a jointure is...a will. Any other will do.

[FP]

josieann.  Please take care when following the advice of certain answerbook members giving legal advice.  Please note that Peter has given conflicting information to Sludge and this is a good thing.   I am not saying that either piece of information is correct/incorrect, just that you should use the editor's advice above. 

Peter thanks for your timely input.

[Hgrove]

As far as I know, unless the law has changed fairly recently, by Sec. 36(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925 (and Williams v Hensmans (1861)), a joint tenant does not need the other joint tenant's consent to sever the joint tenancy.  All the tenant wishing to sever has to do, is write a letter and give it to the other tenant. (A verbal declaration will not suffice, however). They then become tenants in common. Solicitors are not needed for this.  Of course, there could be an issue of proof, but unless the law has changed recently, what I have written here is what the law says.  May I suggest you print the thread and show it to a solicitor.  It is as well to be wary of replies which are not qualified by "as far as I know", "to the best of my knowledge" etc., whilst at the same time not declaring one's qualifications to reply.

[Miss Zippy]

Josieann, I have to say I agree with Peter Pedant and Hgrove.  (Using Hgrove�s qualification!), as far as I�m aware, simple written notice of the severance by one joint owner to the other is all that is required and it becomes effective immediately, even if the joint owner on which notice is served does nothing.  (As Hgrove alludes to,  it would be wise for the joint owner serving the severance notice to obtain proof of this and also to obtain an acknowledgement from the other owner, but this is a different scenario.) On severing a joint tenancy, it is wise to register a restriction with Land Registry (this puts potential purchasers of the property on notice that they have to deal with not only Ms Jones who is residing in the property and might hold herself out as being the sole owner, but also Mr Jones, her ex husband who does not reside in the property but owns the property as a tenant in common). However, whether or not a restriction is registered does not, in itself, have any bearing on the validity of a  notice of severance. Do you have a child/children under the age of 18 living with you? I�m not certain if this is correct, but I think if you do have a child under the age of 18 living you with then your ex-husband�s wife cannot force a sale (though she can when the youngest child reaches 18). No doubt your solicitor would have gone over this with you if it was applicable to you (and correct!).

[Miss Zippy]

Re my penultimate sentence, technically, I should have said �your ex-husband�s estate cannot force a sale��, as it would be the estate that seeks an order for sale and not your ex-husband�s wife in her personal capacity.

[smudge]

josieann - I would be very cautious about giving any of your personal details to anyone on answerbank or answerbook. To quote AB Editor:

'You are advised to discuss your specific requirements with an independent financial advisor prior to entering into any binding contracts'.

I'm not saying the people on AB who are trying to assist you are not qualified, I'm only suggesting you read their advice, then make up your own mind as to what legal steps you should take. Good luck. 

[FP]

Sorry Josieann and thanks Smudge.  I meant Answerbank and not Answerbook (which is an entirely unrelated site).  My fingers went the opposite way to my brain! 

[smudge]

FP - Glad to see I'm not the only one who suffers from that then - he, he!