Joint owners, severance and the family home

This article examines the question of when and how severance of a joint tenancy of a property purchased in the joint names of a couple as their family home occurs, so as to create a tenancy in common and bring to an and the right of survivorship. The article doubts that the presumption of equality has the effect of creating a tenancy in common at the point of acquisition or that a court's declaration as to the parties beneficial interest amount to severance, suggesting instead that it only occurs as a result of post-acquisition actions or words of the parties. The article also considers whether severance automatically leads to unequal shares without triggering s.53(1)(c) of the Law of Property Act 1925