Conversion of Tenancy in Common to Joint Tenancy

Dhiammara

Hello,

Not sure if this post is in the right place, but I hope someone can point me in the right direction/provide advice.

My husband and I have just paid off our mortgage, and received confirmation that the charge has been removed at the Land Registry. :T

However, it has come to light that the property is held as tenants in common whereas we intended it to be held as joint tenants. We want to rectify this - the original solicitor can't advise why it was set up this way as they don't retain records going back to 2000, although I suspect they may have done so as we were not married at the time. On asking a local solicitor they advised at first that it wasn't possible to convert from a tenancy in common to joint tenants but on pointing out that the Land Registry site says it is possible they then said it could be done for £300.

I'm wondering if it's possible to complete this process without involving a solicitor. I can see that an RX3 form is required but the guidelines on the Land Registry website indictate that supporting documentation is required (as below):

"Supporting documents

You must provide one of the following:

an original or certified copy of the new or updated trust deed signed by all the owners
a certified copy of a transfer showing that all owners with individual shares of the property have transferred these to all the beneficial joint tenants
a certificate from your conveyancer confirming that all owners with shares of the property have signed a new trust deed
The supporting document must prove all the following:

nobody else except the named joint owners have shares of the property
none of the joint owners is being made bankrupt, has a charging order from creditors or is mortgaging their share of the property
all the joint owners now own the property together as beneficial joint tenants"

I did check with Land Registry customer service and they said they can't give legal advice but it is possible to do this yourself without a conveyancer using form RX3 and providing supporting documentation. Can anyone advise on how the above supporting documentation can be provided without a conveyancer/solicitor?

Land_Registry

I think what you are lacking is the additional advice that you can also supply a statement of truth or statutory declaration which confirms the following:-

* together all of you own all of the shares in the property and no one else owns any other share in the property; and
* none of you has mortgaged any individual share; and
* none of you is bankrupt; and
* none of you has a creditor with a charging order against any share; and
* you all now hold the property as beneficial joint tenants.

If you complete a stat dec then you would need to use a solicitor to achieve this but you can create your own statement of truth as explained in our online guidance (sections 3). This would not need the help of a solicitor/conveyancer

I will take a fresh look at our guidance on this as it seems that we do not cover this wider advice and I suspect that is simply because in many cases the severance/trust is caught up with a deed of trust and other formal arrangements.