What kind of joint ownership do I have?

The solicitor or conveyancer who handled your transaction can tell you if you're Joint Tenants or Tenants in Common. You can also contact HM Land Registry to see if they have the information. However, if your joint ownership is dictated by a deed of trust which was never registered at the Land Registry or if you've inherited the property through a will, then they won't have this information. You can get a copy of your title deed from the Government website. If you have a Form A Restriction on the deed, then you may be registered as TIC. However, the Land Registry will also apply a form A restriction if you didn't specify a choice when you became the proprietors, among a few other reasons. The restriction wording at the Land Registry is as follows: “No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court.” Unless they have a court order, this will prevent one of the owners from making a 'disposition' (i.e. sale, transfer, mortgage etc.) of the property without the other owner. If there is no Form A restriction on the register, then you are joint tenants. You can sever the joint tenancy with a deed of trust and determine your shares, but this won't be valid until the deed is registered at the Land Registry. When our clients switch to tenancy in common unequal shares, we include both the registration of the deed and the severance of joint tenancy in our fixed fee. Get a Deed

Does a will override tenants in common?

When a tenant in common dies, their share is dealt with according to their will. A will doesn't override a TIC agreement because they do different things. Unlike joint tenancy, where ownership automatically transfers to the surviving owner (usually a spouse), tenants in common can leave their share to anyone they choose in their will. If a tenant in common dies without a will, their share goes to their legal heirs, not necessarily the other owner(s).

What happens to tenants in common in a divorce?

During a divorce, tenants in common still own their respective shares of the property. These shares can be equal or unequal and each party is able to sell their share. If the divorce is amicable, you can walk away with those shares intact but the court can override the allocation of beneficial interest and change it according to their own judgement.

What is the 7 year rule for tenants in common?

The 7-year rule applies to Inheritance Tax (IHT) and applies to tenants in common who gift portions of their property. If a share of a property has been gifted and the person giving the gift survives for seven years after, it is generally exempt from IHT. This is known as a 'potentially exempt transfer' (PET). However, if the tenant in common dies within seven years after making the gift, the gift is likely to be subject to IHT, potentially reducing the value of the estate for other beneficiaries (if there are any others).

What is a Tenant in Common?

by:

Andrew Boast

Last Updated: 13/04/2026

Read by:

6,364

8 min read

A Tenancy in Common is one of two ways to jointly own property in England and Wales and allows two or more people to own separate shares. Unlike the other option, Joint Tenancy, there is no Right of Survivorship; your share is a separate legal asset that you can leave to anyone you choose in your Will.

This structure is the preferred choice for unmarried couples, friends buying together, or investors who want an unequal equity split to reflect their individual financial contributions. By applying a Form A Restriction at the Land Registry, tenants in common ensure that their beneficial interest is protected should the relationship change or one owner pass away.

The Meaning of Legal Ownership, Beneficial Interest, and Tenants in Common

When choosing the type of ownership, you need to understand the difference between the legal ownership and the beneficial interest.

Legal Ownership

Beneficial Interest

The legal owners are the named proprietors (owners) at the Land Registry. You can only own the legal title equally as Joint Tenants. The legal ownership can never be tenants in common.

The beneficial interest is how someone can benefit from the property: rental income, capital gain. It can be held by joint owners in one of two ways:

Beneficial Joint Tenants: You own the property equally, no separate shares. When you sell, the gain or loss is equally shared, regardless of the money paid to buy the property or while you owned it. If one owner dies, the surviving owner remains 100% the owner; there is no inheritance, no capital gain, and no will can override this. This is known as the Right of Survivorship.
Tenants in Common: You own separate shares of the beneficial interest. When you sell, the gain or loss is shared in accordance with your deed of trust, or can be disputed to confirm the exact position. If one owner dies, their share of the property passes to the beneficiaries under their will or, if there is no will, according to the rules of intestacy.

Why There is No Right of Survivorship?

As joint tenants, there is an undivided share in land, so if an owner dies, the surviving owner still owns 100% of the land and beneficial interest. This is different for tenants in common. Whilst they hold the land as joint tenants on trust, the beneficial interest (the actual value) can be held in shares, which prevents the automatic transfer of ownership upon death.

What does the law say?

Where a [legal] estate... is beneficially limited to or held in trust for any persons as joint tenants, the same shall be held on trust for sale, in like manner as if the persons beneficially entitled were tenants in common, but not so as to sever their joint tenancy in equity.

This part of the legislation explains that the surviving owner becomes a trustee who holds the legal title of the property on trust for both themselves and the beneficiaries of the deceased’s beneficial interest.

Source: Law of Property Act 1925, Section 36 (1)

The Form A Restriction Explained

The Form A Restriction is the legal mechanism used by the Land Registry to flag that a property is held as Tenants in Common. You can tell whether a property is held as tenants in common by checking the title and looking for this restriction in Section B. If it isn't there, the property is held as joint tenants.

What does the law say?

Rule 95(2)(a) of the Land Registration Rules 2003 dictates that the Registrar must enter a Form A restriction when they are satisfied that two or more persons are registered as joint proprietors of a registered estate (owners of the property) and the survivor will not be able to give a valid receipt for capital money. The wording on your Title Register will look exactly like this:

No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court.

Source: Land Registration Rules 2003, Rule 95(2)(a)

To help you understand the above, the Registrar refers to the legal authority granted to the position. In practice, the Registrar’s powers are exercised by the staff at HM Land Registry.

How does the Restriction protect Tenants in Common?

Under the Law of Property Act 1925, a buyer must pay the purchase money to at least two trustees to take a property free from the hidden beneficial interests of a deceased person's heirs. The Form A Restriction forces this overreaching to happen.

If one tenant in common dies, the survivor is left alone on the title. Because of the Form A Restriction, they cannot sell the house. They must appoint a second trustee (usually a solicitor or the beneficiary named in the Will) to sign the transfer deed and receive the funds. In practice, when the property is sold, the surviving owner and the deceased's executor shall both sign the documents as part of the sale.

The Form A process prevents a surviving partner from selling the property and keeping 100% of the proceeds if they were only entitled to 50%.

How do you reduce the risks of being Tenants in Common?

Whilst you benefit from no right of survivorship and having separate beneficial shares, you need to have legal documents to protect your interests now and in the future.

Draft a Will

When you die as a tenant in common, your share of the property doesn't go to the other owner automatically; it goes to the beneficiaries of your estate. If you don't have a will naming these people, then it'll follow the rules of intestacy. The people who benefit under intestacy may not be the right people.

If you want to guarantee who benefits from your share in the property, then you must draft a will. This also helps administer your estate after your death.

Frequently Asked Questions

TYPE

WILL

DIVORCE

RULE

Written by: Andrew Boast

Andrew started his career in 2000 working within conveyancing solicitor firms and grew hands-on knowledge of a wide variety of conveyancing challenges and solutions. After helping in excess of 50,000 clients in his career, he uses all this experience within his article writing for SAM, mainstream media and his self published book How to Buy a House Without Killing Anyone.

Reviewed by: Caragh Bailey

Caragh has written extensively for SAM with expertise on sale and purchase conveyancing, the Help to Buy redemption process, equity transfers and deeds, leasehold reform, RICS home surveys, shared ownership, and independent legal advice for specialist mortgage products and ownership structures.

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