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Question: Some commentators have suggested that the best way to deal with the problems of severance is to abolish beneficial joint tenancy entirely.
Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer, referring to rules of law and decided cases.
Answer: As Fox LJ explained in AG Securities v Vaughan at 432-433, to create a joint tenancy, one needs to meet the four unities requirement that is, there must be 1) unity of possession so that each co-owner is as much entitled to any part of the land as the others, 2) unity of interest so that each joint tenant must be the same in extent, interest and duration, 3) unity of title so that each joint tenant must claim hit title to the land under the same act or document, and 4) unity of time so that interest of each tenant must vest at the same time.
As opposed to a tenancy in common, the joint tenancy gives rise to a right of survivorship, which means that when one joint tenant dies, the survivor’s position does not change since he continues to hold 100% of the whole of the property. A joint tenancy, at law, is unseverable as stipulated in s. 36(2) LPA 1925.However, severance can occur in eq...(short extract)
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- Subject: Law
- Course: Property Law
- Level: Degree
- Year: 1st
- Mark: Not available
- Words: 1684
- Date submitted: March 26, 2013
- Date written: January, 2013
- References: Yes
- Document type: Essay*
- Essay ID: 4621
