Real Property Act 1900

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.

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—

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

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).

The Registrar-General may require the person who proposes to sever a joint tenancy to provide additional information concerning—

other persons who may be affected by the severance of the joint tenancy, and

any limitation or restriction on the capacity or entitlement of the person to sever the joint tenancy, and

any other matter that the Registrar-General considers appropriate.

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.

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.

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—

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,

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,

if the dealing concerned is witnessed by the joint tenant and the dealing indicates that the joint tenancy is to be severed,

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,

if the proposed severance is to arise out of registration following an application under section 90.