Court Applications to Sever Joint Ownership

Joint ownership of real estate can be tricky. Problems can often ensue between or among co-owners. One wants to fix the leaky roof; the other two co-owners cannot afford the repair. One wants to rent it out; another wants to live in it. Two want to sell; the third refuses. When joint ownership is simply no longer workable, a person with an interest in land can apply pursuant to Ontario’s Partition Act for an order that the land be partitioned or sold and for other related relief. de VRIES LITIGATION can help with partition and sale applications on behalf of joint owners.

A court application may also be necessary to determine how ownership to a property is held. You may know that jointly owned property can be held one of two ways: either as a joint tenant or as a tenant in common. But did you know that parties may, by agreement, unilateral conveyance, or through their course of conduct, sever a joint tenancy and convert it to a tenancy in common? This can occur without any change to the title documents. Whether the property is owned as joint tenants or as tenants in common can have huge implications for the administration of an estate. A court application may be necessary to determine whether a joint tenancy has been severed. de VRIES LITIGATION can assist executors and beneficiaries with such applications.