co-ownership

Question 1

Co-ownership

Answer 1

Co-ownership: where two or more persons have proprietary interests in the same land/property at the same time.

can be co-ownership of legal title, equitable or both.

a significant proportion of property is co-owned, it is the dominant system now

Question 2

Express Declaration

Answer 2

Co-owners’ declaration that the land/property is to be held as a joint tenancy or tenancy in common.

• Land Registry form - TR1, Box 10

Question 3

Words of Severance

Answer 3

Words in the conveyance/transfer indicating that the co-owners have distinct shares: tenancy in common

Question 4

Lewen v Dodd (1595) Cro Eliz 443

Answer 4

equally - word of severance for equal shares

Question 5

Fisher v Wigg (1700) 1 Salk 391

Answer 5

to be divided between

Question 6

Payne v Webb (1874) LR 19 Eq 26

Answer 6

in equal shares

Question 7

General Presumption

Answer 7

Presumption of a joint tenancy: ‘equity follows the law’

Question 8

Stack v Dowden [2007] 2 WLR 831

Answer 8

General Presumption - equity follows the law

Question 9

Exceptions to the presumption of joint tenancy

Answer 9

• Unequal contributions to purchase price
• Joint mortgagees
• Commercial partnerships (business property)

Question 10

Jones v Kernott [2011] UKSC 53

Answer 10

In the case of joint legal ownership of the family home by a married or cohabiting couple, the mere fact of unequal contribution to purchase price will not normally be sufficient to rebut the presumption of a joint tenancy in equity

Question 11

Harris and Another v Goddard and Others [1983] 1 WLR 1203

Answer 11

Severance def

the process of separating off the share of a joint tenant

The parties will hold separate shares as tenants in common.

no survivorship

Question 12

tenancy in common

Burton v Camden LBC [2000] 2 AC 399

Answer 12

tenants in common retain shares in the land. they have separate shares and do not own it wholly.
Each tenant in common … has a separate and distinct interest of his own.
it is not possible to own legal title if the property is tenancy in common, it can only exist for equitable title

Question 13

LPA 1925, s 36(2)

Answer 13

Methods of severance:

• Notice in writing

such other acts or things that would indicate desire

forfeit this if unlawful homicide committed

Question 14

LPA 1925, s 196

Answer 14

last known address of abode or business must be where notice is sent

post in a registered letter that is not returned to the postal operator is sufficient

Question 15

Harris and Another v Goddard and Others [1983] 1 WLR 1203

Answer 15

A desire to sever must be desired immeadietly.

Question 16

Kinch and Another v Bullard and Another [1999] 1 WLR 423

Answer 16

the delivery to last known address constitutes service even if the addressee does not actually receive it.

Question 17

In Re 88, Berkeley Road, N.W. 9 [1971] Ch 648

Answer 17

I feel bound to conclude that the notice of severance [sent by registered letter], even though it never reached the plaintiff,

Question 18

Williams v Hensman (1861) 1 J & H 546

Answer 18

three ways that notice of severance can be given:

an act of any one of the persons interested operating upon his own share

mutual agreement

any course of dealing sufficient to intimate that the interests of all were mutually treated as constituting a tenancy in common

Question 19

Acts Which Operate Upon His/Her Own Share

Answer 19

Sale

Mortgage (First National Securities Ltd v Hegerty [1984]1AllER139)

Gift

Lease

Bankruptcy (involuntary severance)-see:RePavlou(A Bankrupt) [1993] 1 WLR 1046; Re Dennis (A Bankrupt) [1996] Ch 80

Question 20

Burgess v Rawnsley [1975]Ch429

Answer 20

mutual agreement to severe joint tenancy is fine

Beneficial joint tenancy severed by oral agreement by one joint tenant to sell her share to the other joint tenant

however: mere verbal notice by one party to another clearly cannot operate as severance.

Question 21

Goodman v Gallant [1986] 2 WLR 236

Answer 21

Upon a severance, each takes an equal aliquot share according to the number of joint tenants.

Question 22

Carr v Isard [2006] EWHC 2095

Answer 22

Severance of a joint tenancy cannot be effected by will.

Question 23

Deliberately created

Answer 23

where title to land is expressly conveyed to two or more persons.

Question 24

By operation of law

Answer 24

it may be a legal requirement due to co-funding of the price etc…

Question 25

types of co-ownership

Answer 25

in modern times, 2 types/ Joint tenancy and tenancy in common.

Question 26

LPA 1925, s 36(1)

Answer 26

Joint tenancy statutorily imposed through trusts.

Question 27

LPA 1925, s 34(2)

Answer 27

Tenancy in common statutorily imposed through trusts

Question 28

Joint tenancy | Burton v Camden LBC [2000] 2 AC 399

Answer 28

No separate shares | Each of the joint tenants is … the owner of the whole

Question 29

Hammersmith & Fulham LBC v Monk [1992] 1 AC 478

Answer 29

Lord Browne-Wilkinson: In property law, a transfer of land to two or more persons jointly operates so as to make them, vis-à-vis the outside world, one single owner.

Question 30

LPA 1925, s 34(2)

Answer 30

Maximum of four joint tenants of the legal title. if there are 5, the four before them hold the property on trust and the fifth gets nothing.

Question 31

Four unities | A.G. Securities v Vaughan and Others [1988] 2 WLR 689

Answer 31

For a joint tenancy to exist the four unities must be present. possession-all co-owners must be equally entitled to possession of every part of the co-owned land. interest- all co-owners’ interests must be the same in nature, extent and duration. title- all co-owners must have acquired their title by the same means. time-the interests of all co-owners should vest at the same time

Question 32

the right of survivorship Harris and Another v Goddard and Others [1983] 1 WLR 1203 Davis v Smith [2011] EWCA Civ 1603

Answer 32

the right to the whole of the property accrues automatically to the surviving joint tenants or joint tenant on the death of any tenant. the entire estate survives to the remaining tenant, this process continues until only a sole tenant remains.

Question 33

tenancy in common | Burton v Camden LBC [2000] 2 AC 399

Answer 33

tenants in common retain shares in the land. they have separate shares and do not own it wholly. Each tenant in common … has a separate and distinct interest of his own.

Question 34

distinguishing characteristics

Answer 34

only unity of possession is reuired for tenancy in common there is no right of survivorship for tenancy in common, the shares will be passed down through a will or intestacy rules

Question 35

LPA 1925, s 36(2):

Answer 35

No severance of a joint tenancy of a legal estate, so as to create a tenancy in common in land, shall be permissible