Which act typically severs a joint tenancy, converting it to a tenancy in common?

• A. A lease by any co-tenant.
• B. Inter vivos transfer of the joint tenant's interest.
• C. A mortgage.
• D. A sale of the entire property by all co-tenants.

Answer: (B)

Joint tenancy is built on four unities and a right of survivorship. Severance happens when one owner does something that destroys those unities, so the property is no longer held as a single unit. The most common way this occurs is an inter vivos transfer of the joint tenant’s interest to another person. When that transfer happens, the share transferred loses the unities with the remaining owners, and the parties who continue to hold title do so as tenants in common, with no right of survivorship between them.

A mortgage on a joint tenant’s interest does not sever the joint tenancy, because it does not transfer ownership—it creates a lien that remains until foreclosure. A lease by a co-tenant also does not sever; it grants possession to a lessee while the underlying title remains joint tenancy among the owners. A sale of the entire property by all co-tenants ends the ownership arrangement, but it isn’t the typical severance scenario described in this context.