To remove the right of survivorship from a deed, you draft and record a new deed that converts the property from joint tenancy with right of survivorship into tenancy in common. The mechanical steps are simple in most counties. The complications sit around them: whether you can do it without your co-owner’s consent, whether a spouse must sign, whether your mortgage lender will object, and how the change reshapes taxes and creditor exposure. Work through those questions before you sign anything.
Can One Co-Owner Do This Alone
In a significant number of states, one joint tenant can sever the joint tenancy without the other’s knowledge or consent through a self-conveyance: the co-owner executes a quitclaim deed transferring their own interest to themselves, and once recorded, that deed converts the joint tenancy into a tenancy in common.
Not every state accepts self-conveyance as sufficient. Some require an intermediary or “straw man” transaction. A few require all co-owners to participate. Check your state’s rules before attempting a unilateral severance, because a deed that fails to meet local requirements can leave the right of survivorship intact without anyone realizing it until someone dies.
Drafting the New Deed
The new deed must clearly state that the co-owners will hold the property as tenants in common, replacing the prior joint tenancy with right of survivorship. Vague language is the most common drafting mistake. If the deed doesn’t affirmatively specify tenancy in common, some states will presume joint tenancy still applies and the exercise was pointless.
You’ll typically choose between a quitclaim deed and a warranty deed. A quitclaim deed transfers whatever interest the grantor holds without guaranteeing anything about the title, and works well between co-owners who already know the property’s title history. A warranty deed guarantees the title is clear but is more involved and costlier to prepare.
Include a full legal description of the property, not just the street address. Pull it from the existing recorded deed or from public tax records. Spell every party’s name exactly as it appears on the current deed. Even small discrepancies, such as a missing middle initial, can cause the county recorder’s office to reject the filing.
Spousal Signatures on a Homestead
If the property is anyone’s primary residence, most states require a non-owner spouse to sign the deed even though that spouse has no ownership interest. These homestead protections exist to prevent one spouse from unilaterally transferring or encumbering the family home. Missing the required spousal signature can void the deed entirely, and in some states that defect cannot be fixed after the fact. Confirm your state’s homestead joinder rules before executing the deed if any co-owner is married.
Who Signs and How
Only the grantor, the person transferring the interest, must sign. The grantee’s signature is not typically required. In a mutual conversion where all co-owners re-deed the property to themselves as tenants in common, every co-owner acts as both grantor and grantee, so everyone signs. In a unilateral severance, only the severing co-owner signs.
Every signature must be notarized. The notary verifies each signer’s identity and confirms they’re signing voluntarily. Some states require one or two witnesses in addition to the notary. Missing your jurisdiction’s witnessing requirements can make the deed unrecordable.
Recording the Deed
File the signed, notarized deed with the county recorder’s office in the county where the property sits. Recording puts the public on notice that the ownership structure changed and establishes the deed’s priority over later claims.
Recording fees vary by jurisdiction, typically from around $10 to over $100 depending on the county and page count. Call the recorder’s office in advance to confirm the exact fee and formatting requirements. Many offices reject deeds for technical issues like incorrect margins, missing return addresses, or oversized pages. A rejected filing means the old joint tenancy remains on record until you fix the problem and refile.
Check Your Mortgage First
If the property has an outstanding mortgage, nearly every residential loan contains a due-on-sale clause that allows the lender to demand full repayment if the borrower transfers the property.
Federal law restricts when lenders can enforce due-on-sale clauses on residential properties with fewer than five units. Protected transfers include those to a spouse or children, transfers upon a co-owner’s death, and transfers into a living trust where the borrower stays as beneficiary.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 U.S. Code 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions Converting a joint tenancy to a tenancy in common among the same co-owners doesn’t neatly fit any listed exemption. Whether a lender would actually call the loan over a tenancy-type change is debatable, since no ownership truly changed hands, but the risk exists. The safest move is to contact the lender before recording the new deed and get written confirmation that the change won’t trigger the clause.
Tax Consequences to Plan For
The tax implications are where the real cost often hides. Four areas deserve attention.
You May Lose Part of the Step-Up in Basis
Under federal law, property acquired from a decedent receives a basis equal to its fair market value at the date of death.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1014 – Basis of Property Acquired From a Decedent For non-spouse joint tenants, the entire property value is included in the decedent’s estate unless the survivor can prove they contributed to the purchase price. That means the survivor could receive a step-up on the full value, wiping out decades of appreciation for capital gains purposes.
Switch to tenancy in common and the math changes. Only the decedent’s fractional share is included in their estate, and only that share receives the step-up. If two people each own 50% as tenants in common and one dies, the survivor gets a step-up on only 50% of the property’s value. On a property that appreciated by $400,000, that difference could mean an extra $60,000 or more in capital gains taxes when the survivor eventually sells. For married couples, the effect is usually less dramatic because only half of jointly held property is included in the estate regardless of how it’s titled.
Gift Tax If Shares Shift
If co-owners restructure their ownership percentages as part of the conversion, the change can trigger federal gift tax obligations. If two siblings own a home 50/50 as joint tenants and convert to tenancy in common with 70/30 shares, the sibling who went from 50% to 30% has made a gift of 20% of the property’s value.
For 2026, the annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient.3Internal Revenue Service. Frequently Asked Questions on Gift Taxes If the gift exceeds that amount, the donor must file IRS Form 709 even if no tax is owed because the gift falls within the lifetime exemption.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709 Gifts between U.S. citizen spouses are unlimited and tax-free. If the ownership shares stay the same during the conversion, no gift has occurred and no reporting is necessary.
Estate Tax
Once the right of survivorship is removed, each co-owner’s share becomes part of their individual estate and counts toward that estate’s total value for estate tax purposes. For 2026, the federal estate tax exemption is $15,000,000 per individual, so most estates won’t owe federal estate tax.5Internal Revenue Service. Estate Tax Some states impose their own estate or inheritance taxes with much lower thresholds, sometimes as low as $1 million. The property share can also push a borderline estate over the exemption limit when combined with other assets.
Property Tax Reassessment
In some states, a change in property ownership triggers a reassessment of the property’s taxable value. Whether converting joint tenancy to tenancy in common qualifies as an ownership change for reassessment purposes depends entirely on state law. States with assessment caps that freeze values until a transfer occurs are where this matters most. If the property hasn’t been reassessed in years, a new assessment could significantly increase the annual tax bill.
What Changes After the Switch
Once you hold as tenants in common, each co-owner’s share operates more like an independent asset. Each co-owner can leave their share to whoever they choose through a will or trust. Each can sell or transfer a share without the other’s permission, though finding a buyer for a fractional interest in a property is harder than it sounds; most buyers don’t want to co-own a house with a stranger.
The downside is creditor exposure. Under joint tenancy, a creditor’s lien attaches only to the debtor’s interest and effectively dissolves if the debtor dies first, since the right of survivorship trumps the lien. Under tenancy in common, the lien survives the co-owner’s death because the share passes through the estate. A judgment creditor can also pursue a forced sale of the debtor’s share, which can pull the other co-owner into a partition proceeding.
Existing financial obligations tied to the property don’t change. All co-owners remain responsible for the mortgage regardless of how title is structured. If one co-owner stops paying, the others are still on the hook.
If a Co-Owner Disputes the Severance
Not every co-owner will agree to remove the right of survivorship, and disputes about a completed severance can end up in court. Common challenges include claims that a co-owner was pressured or misled into signing, that the deed was forged, or that the severance didn’t comply with state requirements. Courts look at the notarization, witness signatures, and any evidence of communication between the parties to determine whether the deed is valid.
If co-owners reach an impasse, any one of them can file a partition action asking the court to divide the property or order it sold. The right to partition is generally considered absolute for tenants in common. Courts prefer to physically divide property when possible, but for a single residence that’s rarely practical, so the typical result is a court-ordered sale with proceeds split according to ownership shares. Adjustments can be made if one co-owner paid more than their share of the mortgage, taxes, or maintenance.