REAL PROPERTY ACT 1900 - SECT 97
Severance of joint tenancy by unilateral action
REAL PROPERTY ACT 1900 - SECT 97
Severance of joint tenancy by unilateral action
97 Severance of joint tenancy by unilateral action
(1) Registration of a
transfer by a joint tenant of the joint tenant's interest in the land that is
the subject of a joint tenancy to himself or herself severs the joint tenancy.
(2) If a joint tenancy is proposed to be severed by unilateral action by one
joint tenant, the Registrar-General may require the person who proposes to
sever the joint tenancy to provide the Registrar-General, before recording the
instrument that severs the joint tenancy, with--
(a) the names and addresses
of the joint tenants or, if the addresses are unknown, evidence of the efforts
made by the person to locate the addresses of the joint tenants, and
(b) a
statement that the person is not aware of any limitation or restriction on his
or her capacity or entitlement to sever the joint tenancy (arising, for
example, from the capacity in which the person holds an estate or interest in
the land concerned or from a private agreement).
(3) The Registrar-General
may require the person who proposes to sever a joint tenancy to provide
additional information concerning--
(a) other persons who may be affected by
the severance of the joint tenancy, and
(b) any limitation or restriction on
the capacity or entitlement of the person to sever the joint tenancy, and
(c)
any other matter that the Registrar-General considers appropriate.
(4) The
Registrar-General may require any information provided for the purposes of
this section to be provided by statutory declaration or verified in a way
approved by the Registrar-General.
(5) The Registrar-General must give notice
of the lodgment of a dealing for registration or recording that may sever a
joint tenancy to all joint tenants in the joint tenancy (other than any joint
tenant who executed the dealing, or on whose behalf the dealing was executed).
Section 12A (2) and (3) applies to and with respect to a notice given under
this section.
(6) Despite subsection (5), the Registrar-General is not
required to give notice of the lodgment of a dealing for registration or
recording that may sever a joint tenancy to a joint tenant in any of the
following circumstances--
(a) if the proposed severance is to arise from the
recording of a court order made in proceedings to which the joint tenant is a
party,
(b) if the proposed severance is to arise from the registration of a
transfer pursuant to a writ in respect of an interest of any of the joint
tenants,
(c) if the dealing concerned is witnessed by the joint tenant and
the dealing indicates that the joint tenancy is to be severed,
(d) if the
dealing is accompanied by a written acknowledgment by the joint tenant that he
or she has received legal advice as to the effects of the severance of the
joint tenancy,
(e) if the proposed severance is to arise out of registration
following an application under section 90.
