Whether survivorship operates can determine who ends up with the whole of a co-owned property, so knowing exactly when a joint tenancy has been severed matters. This chapter begins with the foundations of co-ownership — the two forms, the four unities and why severance can never be achieved by will — before working through the three equitable methods: acting on one's own share, mutual agreement and mutual course of dealing. It then sets out the statutory route of written notice under s 36(2), including service rules and the position once a notice has been given, alongside severance by operation of law through bankruptcy or unlawful killing, and the acts — such as an oral declaration or starting divorce proceedings — that do not sever at all. It closes with the resulting shares, including the position where one of several joint tenants severs and survivorship continues among the rest.
