What Geoffrey Boycott can teach us about property ownership

The difference in what happens on the death of a joint tenant, and that of a tenant in common, is significant: a joint tenant’s stake in a property passes automatically to the surviving joint owners; in contrast, a tenant in common’s interest forms part of their estate and passes in line with the terms of their Will. Not knowing the distinction can leave property owners seriously out of pocket. The High Court recently dealt with the case of Geoffrey Boycott, who funded a property purchase for a close friend, Mrs Wyatt, which they co-owned as joint tenants. Upon Mrs Wyatt’s death and to t...