Which of the following describes the effect of severance on a Joint Tenancy?

• A. Converts to tenancy in common.
• B. Terminates the tenancy entirely.
• C. Creates a tenancy by entirety.
• D. No effect.

Answer: (B)

Severance removes the four unities that define a joint tenancy—the time, title, interest, and possession—and ends the right of survivorship. When severed, what you have is not a vanished ownership but a change in form: the property becomes tenancy in common, with each former joint tenant holding a separate, transferable interest. This means one co-owner can convey or encumber her share without dissolving the entire ownership, and the surviving co-owners don’t automatically receive the whole property. It’s not a total termination of the estate; it’s a shift from a single, survivorship-based ownership to multiple, independent shares. Severance can happen in several ways, such as one joint tenant conveying his interest to another or by partition actions, and it does not create tenancy by entirety, which is a different form that applies to married couples.