Joint tenants vs tenants in common: what happens to your home when you die
Joint tenants and tenants in common own a home in different ways, and it decides who gets your share when you die. How to check yours and how to change it.
What is the difference between joint tenants and tenants in common?
The difference is whether you own the home as one undivided whole or as separate shares. GOV.UK's guide to joint property ownership explains that when you buy or inherit a property with someone else you have to choose one of the two, and that the choice affects what each of you can do if the relationship ends or one of you dies.
Joint tenants have equal rights to the whole property. Neither of you owns a particular share, and when one of you dies the whole property passes automatically to the survivor, which is known as survivorship. GOV.UK states that a joint tenant's share cannot be left in a will, so a gift of your share in your will has no effect whilst the joint tenancy continues.
Tenants in common each own a specific share, which can be equal or unequal, such as 50/50 or 70/30. Your share does not pass automatically to the other owner when you die. It forms part of your estate and goes to whoever your will names, or to your relatives under the intestacy rules if you have no will.
Both forms are a kind of trust of land, which is why HM Land Registry talks about owners holding the property on trust, and in both cases the names on the register are the legal owners. What differs is who is entitled to the value behind those names.
What happens to your home when a joint tenant dies?
The surviving owner becomes the sole owner straight away, without probate and without anything passing through your will. To update the register, the survivor sends HM Land Registry form DJP with an official copy of the death certificate, and HM Land Registry's practice guide 6, on devolution on the death of a registered proprietor, confirms that there is no fee for this.
Survivorship decides who owns the home, but it does not take your share out of your estate for tax purposes. HMRC's Inheritance Tax Manual states that a person's beneficial entitlement to joint property forms part of their estate for inheritance tax on death, although a share passing to a spouse or civil partner is normally exempt. Our guide to the inheritance tax threshold sets out the current allowances, and our guide to what happens to a joint mortgage when one partner dies explains why the survivor becomes responsible for the whole loan, not half of it.
What happens to your share when a tenant in common dies?
Your share passes under your will, or under the intestacy rules if there is no will, whilst the surviving owner keeps their own share. This is what allows tenants in common to leave their share to children, to a trust or to anyone else, and it is also why an unmarried partner who is a tenant in common receives nothing of your share unless your will gives it to them, as our guide to the intestacy rules explains.
The legal title works differently from the share. Practice guide 6 explains that the legal title passes to the surviving owner whether you were joint tenants or tenants in common, so the survivor still sends form DJP and your executors cannot be added to the register alongside them. Your executors deal with your share of the value instead, which is why our guide to form AS1 and assents explains that an assent is usually the wrong route where a co-owner survives.
The Form A restriction stays on the register after the death, which means the survivor cannot normally sell on their own. Practice guide 6 says that, where the property is still held on trust, a second trustee should be appointed to act with them, and that if the survivor has inherited your share and become the sole owner of the whole value, they can apply on form RX3 to remove the restriction, usually with a statement of truth as evidence and without a fee.
How do you check if you are joint tenants or tenants in common?
The quickest check is your title register, because a tenancy in common is normally shown by a Form A restriction in the proprietorship section. HM Land Registry's own explanation notes that the register does not use the words "tenants in common", and that the restriction instead begins "No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate", followed by wording about capital money and court orders. Joint tenants do not normally have this restriction.
The register is a strong indicator rather than proof. HM Land Registry enters a Form A by default if the transfer did not make clear how you were to own the property, the register often does not show the size of each share, and it is not told about trusts, so a tenancy in common can exist without appearing at all. GOV.UK's guidance on checking your ownership details suggests also looking at the transfer, any lease and any declaration of trust, and adds that ownership can change without you knowing, for example if one owner is made bankrupt.
You can download your title register from GOV.UK for £7. An official copy, which is needed as proof of ownership, costs £11 by post on form OC1. HM Land Registry sometimes holds the documents behind the register, such as the transfer or form JO, and you can order copies of those on form OC2 for £11 by post, although it rarely holds trust deeds, which are more likely to be with the conveyancer who acted when you bought.
Why do couples choose joint tenancy or tenancy in common?
Joint tenancy suits couples who want the survivor to own the whole home automatically, because nothing about the property then depends on a will or on probate. The trade-off is that the survivor then owns everything outright and decides who eventually inherits it, which is why joint tenancy works best where you both expect the same people to benefit in the end.
Tenancy in common suits a wider range of situations. Couples who contributed different amounts can record unequal shares, and couples in second marriages or with children from earlier relationships can make sure each share eventually reaches their own children. It also allows your share to be left in a trust, so that your partner can carry on living in the home for the rest of their life whilst your share is protected for your children, which our guide to wills with trusts and property protection trusts explains in more detail.
A tenancy in common only works as intended if each of you makes a will that deals with your share, which is why couples often review their ownership and their wills together. Our guide to mirror wills explains how matching wills interact with each type of ownership. HM Land Registry recommends taking legal and financial advice before changing how you own a property, because the effects can be felt both now and later, and GOV.UK adds that if you ever want to sell and the other owner has lost mental capacity, you have to apply to the Court of Protection first.
How do you sever a joint tenancy?
Changing from joint tenants to tenants in common is called severing the joint tenancy, and GOV.UK's severance guidance confirms that you can do it without the other owner's agreement. The legal basis is section 36(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925, which allows a joint tenant who wishes to sever to give the other joint tenants notice in writing, after which the property is held for the owners as if their shares had been separated.
If you both agree, you complete form SEV and send it to HM Land Registry's Citizen Centre with your supporting documents. If the other owner does not agree, you first serve a written notice of severance on them, then send form SEV with either the original or a certified copy of the notice signed by every owner or, if you cannot get their signatures, a letter certifying how you served it, which GOV.UK says can be by giving it to them, leaving it at their last known UK home or business address, or sending it by registered or recorded delivery without it being returned undelivered. If you cannot provide any of the evidence that form SEV asks for, form RX1 is used instead.
HM Land Registry then enters a Form A restriction, and there is no fee for the application. The fees in this guide are those in force in November 2026 under the fee order that took effect on 9 December 2024, and although HM Land Registry opened a consultation on restructuring its registration fees on 27 October 2026, which runs until 22 December 2026, it is a consultation only and nothing has changed. According to practice guide 24 on private trusts of land, the other owners are not invited to object when the application is in order, although an owner who believes no valid severance took place can apply to have the register corrected. Severing does not by itself record what share each of you owns, so if you want particular shares, such as 60/40, those are usually set out in a declaration of trust.
How do you record unequal shares or change back to joint tenants?
Unequal shares are normally set out in a declaration of trust, sometimes called a trust deed, which GOV.UK describes as the document that states each owner's share. If you are buying, the transfer form has a panel for recording how you will own the property, and HM Land Registry's guidance stresses that this information should match any separate trust deed. Because HM Land Registry is not told the contents of trusts, the signed declaration of trust is what proves your shares, so it is worth keeping it with your other property papers and telling your executors where it is.
Changing from tenants in common back to joint tenants needs the agreement of every owner. GOV.UK's guidance on changing from tenants in common to joint tenants explains that you need a new or updated trust deed, form RX3 to cancel the Form A restriction and a statement of truth or statutory declaration confirming that nobody else has a share and that no owner's share is affected by bankruptcy, a charging order or a mortgage. Again, there is no fee.
How does this work in Scotland and Northern Ireland?
Scotland has its own property law, and HMRC's Inheritance Tax Manual describes Scottish co-ownership separately from the joint tenancy and tenancy in common used in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Registers of Scotland explains that a title sheet may contain a survivorship destination, usually wording after the owners' names such as "equally between them and the survivor of them", which passes a deceased owner's share to the survivor automatically. Without one, the share passes under the will or intestacy and the executor has to transfer it. The same HMRC manual notes that undoing, or evacuating, a destination can be complex, so it is worth asking a Scottish solicitor.
Northern Ireland has the same two forms of ownership as England and Wales, and the Northern Ireland Land Registry's guidance on transmission on death explains that a joint tenant's death can be noted on the register using a solicitor's certificate, for which a registration fee is payable, whereas a tenant in common's share forms part of their estate and passes by assent.
What to do next
Download your title register and check for a Form A restriction.
Find your purchase paperwork and any declaration of trust, or ask the conveyancer who acted for you.
Decide together whether automatic survivorship or separate shares suits your family, taking advice if your situation is not straightforward.
If you decide to sever, serve the notice if needed and send form SEV to HM Land Registry.
Make or update your wills so that they match how you now own the home.
Whoever deals with your affairs will still need to tell your mortgage lender and home insurer about the death, along with every other company you held an account with, which is far easier when you have left a clear record of those accounts with your property papers. If that work does fall to your family, Legacy Trail's free notification service can contact the private-sector companies for them.
Frequently asked questions
Neither is better in every case. Joint tenancy gives the survivor the whole home automatically, whereas tenancy in common lets each owner leave their own share by will, which tends to suit unequal contributions, second marriages and couples who want to protect a share for children. It is worth taking advice before deciding, because the choice also affects how your wills need to be written.
No. In England and Wales one joint tenant can sever by serving a written notice of severance on the other owner under section 36(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925. The other owner does not have to sign or agree, although you do need evidence that the notice was served before HM Land Registry will register the change.
HM Land Registry charges no fee to register a severance and enter the Form A restriction, and changing back the other way is also free. You may still pay a solicitor or conveyancer if you want help serving the notice or drawing up a declaration of trust that records your shares.
Not whilst the joint tenancy continues, because your share passes to the other owner automatically on your death whatever your will says. If you want your will to control your share, the joint tenancy has to be severed first so that you own it as a tenant in common.
Their share passes under the intestacy rules rather than automatically to the co-owner. A spouse or civil partner will usually receive some or all of it, but an unmarried partner has no automatic right to inherit, so the share could go to the deceased's children, parents or other relatives instead.
Usually, but not always. HM Land Registry adds a Form A restriction when owners are tenants in common, and it also adds one by default if the transfer did not say how the owners would hold the property. Your purchase documents or a declaration of trust will confirm the position and the size of each share.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Individual circumstances vary. If you are dealing with an estate, consider taking advice from a solicitor who specialises in probate. For other guidance specific to your circumstances, speak to a funeral director, Citizens Advice, or a regulated financial adviser.