Joint Tenancy Clause

[Meadoway]

As I am coming up to being old (79) I am checking through financial and legal matters to make sure all is in order. On checking through the correspondence for the conveyance of the house I have found a letter from solicitors saying there is no joint tenancy clause. (The house is jointly owned by my wife). A will was made at the same time (30 years ago) leaving the property to each other. Nothing seems to have been done about the joint tenancy clause. Should I now do something about it or does the will cover the situation.

Les

[Gladiatrix]

I'm not totally sure, but I think that if it is on joint names and on the will then that should be fine.

[Meadoway]

Thanks Gladiatrix. I am pretty sure I would have done something if the solicitor had advised accordingly.
Les

[themas]

If the solicitor concerned was acting for you in the purchase of the house then it was up to him/her to make sure the information on the Land Registry records was accurate.

If the property is owned as a joint tenancy then it would automatically go to the survivor on the death of the first of you, so would not need to be specified in a will. The alternative way of jointly owning property is as tenants in common, where a clause specifying this has to be on the deeds. If this is the case, then each party can leave their share to whoever they wish, so it would have to be covered in a will.

Without knowing exactly what the solicitor was referring to it is difficult to advise, but I would be inclined to get the situation checked by another solicitor to make sure your intentions are properly dealt with. You can get a copy of the land certificate from Land Registry gov uk (not one of the high cost imitation sites) for a few £ to take to a solicitor with your wills & the letter you are concerned about.

[Peter Pedant]

Joint tenancy is commonly (hah) used to mean tenants in common and this causes needless confusion

In your case I think he is saying that there is no joint tenancy and so each part owner can and should leave their portion in a will.

[hc4361]

Good information here
http://www.mindatrest.co.uk/blog/tenants-common-versus-joint-tenants

I'd leave things as they are

[Peter Pedant]

oh, re-read this

yes, the will covers the situation

[Meadoway]

Thanks everybody for input. I am leaving things as they are

Les