Property can be co-owned in two ways:
- As joint tenants; or
- As tenants in common
Where property is co-owned by joint tenants each of them owns the whole property and (while they remain joint tenants) the property cannot be shared between them.
Property which is owned by joint tenants is not inherited under a will. When one joint tenant dies their share of the property goes to the surviving joint tenant(s) and the survivors then own the whole property – even if the deceased’s will says something different.
If you want your share of jointly owned property to be inherited by someone who is not the other joint tenant, you will need to “sever” the joint tenancy. You can find information from the Government on doing so here: Change from Joint Tenants to Tenants in Common,