How to remove a deceased joint owner from a property title at HM Land Registry
When a jointly-owned property passes to the surviving owner by survivorship, the legal title transfers automatically on death — no probate required.
But HM Land Registry's register still shows both names, which causes problems with selling, remortgaging, or proving ownership.
This walkthrough covers how to check which type of joint ownership applied, what documents Land Registry needs, how to complete form DJP, and what changes if the property turns out to have been held as tenants in common.
✓ Official source checked 24 September 2026 · GOV.UK last revised this form 18 August 2026DJP on GOV.UK ↗
United Kingdom·Informational, not legal or financial advice·Official source: GOV.UK
✓Official form · always current
This is the same official DJP file HM Land Registry publishes on GOV.UK — the link below fetches the current version live from GOV.UK the moment you click it, so it can never go out of date.
Current version: August 2026 · confirmed on GOV.UK 24 September 2026
This walkthrough takes the DJP application field by field, in plain English. Most of the form is administrative; the part worth care comes before the form — checking whether the title carries a Form A restriction, because that decides what happens to the deceased's share and what you will need before the property can be sold. It does not change the form: DJP updates the register either way.
The Form A mistake — ‘you cannot use DJP’
The most common error is believing that a Form A restriction means you cannot use form DJP, or that you must obtain probate before the register can be updated. Neither is right.
A Form A restriction in the Proprietorship Register usually means the property was held as tenants in common. Form DJP still removes the deceased's name — the legal title passed to you on the death whichever way the property was owned. What the restriction affects is a later sale or mortgage: it stays on the register after the name is removed, and before the property can be sold either a second trustee must be appointed to act with you, or, if the deceased's share has since come to you, you can ask HM Land Registry to cancel it (form RX3 with a statement of truth on form ST5).
The deceased's share itself is part of their estate. Their executor or administrator deals with that share — and may need a grant for the estate as a whole — but that is a separate step from updating the register.
The form, in summary
The DJP form, in summary.
Valoren
DJP·2 pages·18 fields guided
With Valoren15 minutes
Without Valoren30–45 minutes
to complete the form; allow 4–6 weeks for Land Registry processing
Deadline
No deadlinebut update promptly for future dealings
When a property is held by joint tenants and one joint tenant dies, the deceased's interest passes automatically to the surviving joint tenant(s) by the right of survivorship (jus accrescendi).
No probate or grant of administration is required.
The application to HM Land Registry is an administrative step to update the register to reflect the legal position — which changed automatically on death.
Form DJP is used whichever way the property was owned, because the legal title can only be held jointly and always passes to the surviving owner (Law of Property Act 1925, ss.1(6) and 36(2); HM Land Registry Practice Guide 6).
What the type of ownership changes is what happens to the deceased's share. Held as joint tenants, the whole property is now the survivor's. Held as tenants in common, the deceased's share belongs to their estate and passes under the will or the intestacy rules — the register is still updated with form DJP, but a Form A restriction stays on the title and has to be dealt with before the property can be sold or mortgaged.
·Draws from your Estate File — Property Folio, Civil Dossier, Legal Instruments
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Section 1
Joint tenancy or tenancy in common? — it changes what happens next, not whether you can use DJP
It is still worth confirming how the property was held before you start — not because it changes the form (it does not: form DJP removes the deceased's name whichever way the property was owned), but because it decides what happens to the deceased's share, and what you will need to do before the property can be sold.
01
How to check the title
Order a copy of the official title register from HM Land Registry (at gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry — costs £7 online).
Look at the Proprietorship Register section (usually the B section).
If you see both names as registered proprietors and no Form A restriction, it is almost certainly a joint tenancy.
If you see the words 'RESTRICTION: No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate' or 'Form A restriction', the property is held as tenants in common.
02
The Form A restriction
A Form A restriction reads: 'No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (not being a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered except under an order of the Registrar or of the Court.'
This is the standard restriction used when property is held as tenants in common.
If you see it, you can still send form DJP. The restriction stays on the register after the deceased's name is removed. It means the deceased's share belongs to their estate rather than passing to you outright — and that before the property can be sold or mortgaged, either a second trustee must be appointed to act alongside you, or, if the share has since passed to you, you can apply to cancel the restriction (form RX3, with a statement of truth on form ST5).
03
What if you are unsure?
Look at the original purchase documents (transfer deed, TR1 form, or conveyance if old).
There should be a box that was ticked for 'joint tenants' or 'tenants in common in equal shares'.
If you cannot find the original documents, ask the conveyancing solicitor who acted on the original purchase — they are required to keep records for 6 years (12 years for property transactions).
04
Severed joint tenancies
Even if the property was originally purchased as a joint tenancy, the joint tenancy may have been severed later by a written notice, a deed, or conduct (such as one party attempting to sell their share).
A severed joint tenancy converts to a tenancy in common.
Check the title register for any restriction or entry referring to 'severance of joint tenancy' or 'Form A restriction entered on [date]'.
HM Land Registry · DJP❦
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Section 2
Documents you need to gather
The Land Registry requires specific documents to process a DJP application. Gathering these before you start the form saves time and avoids rejection.
01
Death certificate — original or certified copy
Land Registry accepts a certified copy of the death certificate.
A certified copy is one signed by a solicitor, notary, bank official, or similar professional, with the words 'I certify this is a true copy of the original' and their signature, name, and capacity.
If you send an uncertified photocopy, Land Registry will return the application.
You do NOT need to send the original — keep it safe.
02
Copy of the title register
You will need the property's title number and the deceased owner's full name exactly as the title register shows them — both go on form DJP.
If you do not already have the title register, obtain one at gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry before starting the form.
03
Form DJP — Deceased joint proprietor
This is the application form, free from GOV.UK (search for 'Deceased joint proprietor (DJP)').
It is sent on its own with the evidence of death — it does not need a covering form AP1.
HM Land Registry's own note on the form: it is only for use on the death of a joint proprietor where the legal estate vests in the survivor(s).
04
Fee
There is no Land Registry fee for this application. Registering the death of a joint proprietor is on the exemptions list in Schedule 4 of the Land Registration Fee Order 2024, and GOV.UK's fees guide lists it among the applications that carry no fee, whatever the property is worth.
Most families send form DJP by post; online filing through the Land Registry portal is for conveyancers.
The Land Registry requires specific documents to process a DJP application. Gathering these before you start the form saves time and avoids rejection.
HM Land Registry · DJP❦
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Section 3
Completing form DJP
Form DJP has nine numbered sections and no fee box. Type it, or write in black ink and block capitals.
01
Sections 1 to 3 — the property
1: the local council for the property's area. 2: the title number from the title register (for example AGL123456) — if the property has more than one title, list each. 3: the property's address and postcode; land with no address gets a description instead, such as 'land adjoining 2 High Street'.
If the property was never registered at HM Land Registry, form DJP does not apply — that is a first registration, a different application. Contact HM Land Registry for guidance.
02
Section 4 — evidence of death
Tick A and send an official copy of the death certificate, or a certified copy. B is an alternative — an official or certified copy of the grant of probate or letters of administration. C is for conveyancers only.
HM Land Registry scans what you send and may destroy it, so never send the original certificate. A document in another language needs a certified translation.
03
Section 5 — the applicant(s)
Your full name, and the name of anyone else making the application with you.
04
Section 6 — where to write to you
Your name and postal address — HM Land Registry uses it to return documents and to ask any questions, and cannot process the application without it. Email is optional. The reference and key number boxes are for conveyancers; leave them blank.
05
Section 7 — the application
Complete part A ('I/We') and part C: the full name of the person who died as it appears on the title register, the date they died, and the place of death. Part B is for conveyancers.
06
Section 8 — only if the names differ
Fill this in only if the name or address on the death certificate (or the grant) is different from the title register — a missing middle name, or an old address. You are certifying that they are the same person.
07
Section 9 — sign and send
Every applicant named in section 5 signs and dates the form.
Post the form and the evidence of death to HM Land Registry Citizen Centre, PO Box 7806, Bilston, WV1 9QR. There is no fee box on the form and nothing to pay.
Form DJP has nine numbered sections and no fee box. Type it, or write in black ink and block capitals.
HM Land Registry · DJP❦
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Section 4
After the application — what happens next
Land Registry typically processes straightforward DJP applications within 4–6 weeks. The register will be updated to show the surviving owner as sole proprietor.
01
What the updated register looks like
After processing, the Proprietorship Register will show only the surviving owner's name.
The deceased's name will be removed.
Land Registry will issue a confirmation letter and, if you requested one, an updated official copy of the register.
02
Selling the property after updating the register
Once the register is updated, you can sell the property as sole proprietor — unless a Form A restriction remains on the title, in which case see the item below.
If you try to sell before updating the register, the buyer's solicitor will require evidence of death and may delay completion until the register is updated — which can take weeks in a chain.
It is far easier to update the register proactively.
03
Tenants in common — what happens to the share
If the property was held as tenants in common, the deceased's share forms part of their estate and passes under the will or the intestacy rules. Form DJP has still updated the register: you are now the sole registered owner, holding the property on trust for yourself and the estate.
The Form A restriction stays. Before a sale or mortgage, either appoint a second trustee to act with you — HM Land Registry's guidance says this can be the deceased's executor or administrator, but does not have to be — or, if the share has passed to you under the will or intestacy, apply to cancel the restriction with form RX3 and a statement of truth on form ST5.
If the share is passing to someone else, the executor or administrator will usually need a grant of probate or letters of administration to deal with the estate, and the transfer of that share to its new owner is a separate Land Registry application.
04
Mortgage on the property
If there is a mortgage registered against the property, the lender should be notified of the death separately.
Some lenders will want to review the mortgage terms (particularly for interest-only mortgages) once the sole borrower is deceased.
Contact the lender's bereavement team as soon as the title update is submitted.
Land Registry typically processes straightforward DJP applications within 4–6 weeks. The register will be updated to show the surviving owner as sole proprietor.
HM Land Registry · DJP❦
What it costs
What it costs — nothing at the Land Registry, and what help costs.
HM Land Registry charges no fee for form DJP. What changes between the routes is who reads the register before anything is sent, who lodges the form, and whether anyone tells you what your title actually lets you do afterwards.
What it costs — nothing at the Land Registry, and what help costs.
Route
What you pay
What you get
Source
Do it yourself
Nothing — an application to reflect the death of a proprietor carries no Land Registry fee
Form DJP completed by you and posted to HM Land Registry with an official copy of the death certificate. Whether a restriction stays on the title after the name comes off — and what that stops you doing before a sale — is yours to work out; the pitfall note and the tenants-in-common answer above are written so that you can.
£240 to £400 inc VAT to prepare and lodge form DJP — with nothing to pay the Land Registry on top
The DJP application prepared and lodged for you, from the firms' own published fees: "£240 to £400 INC VAT" depending on the property's value (SAM Conveyancing) and "£360 inc VAT" with "no HMLR Fee" (Mounteney).
£145 — VAT included, in writing before anything starts — and nothing to pay the Land Registry
The register read first, so the route is right whether the title is registered or not; the DJP application prepared and sent with the copy of the death certificate HM Land Registry accepts; and the honest after position stated in writing — whether a restriction still sits on your title, and what it stops you doing before you sell or remortgage. That last part is the trap a form on its own never mentions.
Nothing — an application to reflect the death of a proprietor carries no Land Registry fee
What you get
Form DJP completed by you and posted to HM Land Registry with an official copy of the death certificate. Whether a restriction stays on the title after the name comes off — and what that stops you doing before a sale — is yours to work out; the pitfall note and the tenants-in-common answer above are written so that you can.
£240 to £400 inc VAT to prepare and lodge form DJP — with nothing to pay the Land Registry on top
What you get
The DJP application prepared and lodged for you, from the firms' own published fees: "£240 to £400 INC VAT" depending on the property's value (SAM Conveyancing) and "£360 inc VAT" with "no HMLR Fee" (Mounteney).
£145 — VAT included, in writing before anything starts — and nothing to pay the Land Registry
What you get
The register read first, so the route is right whether the title is registered or not; the DJP application prepared and sent with the copy of the death certificate HM Land Registry accepts; and the honest after position stated in writing — whether a restriction still sits on your title, and what it stops you doing before you sell or remortgage. That last part is the trap a form on its own never mentions.
Signum's fee sits under both firms' published figures, and the Land Registry charges nothing on any route. What a paid route buys is the check a form cannot make for itself — whether the way the two of you owned the property leaves a restriction on the title once the name comes off.
If this estate needs more than a guide
Where the boundary is reached, Valoren refers.
Whether form DJP is the right form, and what changes if the property was owned in shares, is answerable from the sections above. Lodging it so the register comes back right — and knowing what your title lets you do afterwards — is a separate job.
Signum is Valoren's own desk — when you instruct Signum, you are instructing us, and this page tells you so rather than dressing it up as an independent recommendation. Neither STEP nor CIOT pays Valoren a referral fee, and we pass your details to no one: the directories are listed so that the independent route is always one click away.
FAQ
DJP questions, answered.
It removes a deceased joint owner's name from a property's title register at HM Land Registry, leaving the surviving owner shown as sole proprietor.
It is made on form DJP (Deceased joint proprietor), sent to HM Land Registry with an official or certified copy of the death certificate. It does not need an AP1, and there is no fee.
Not if the property was held as joint tenants.
The deceased's interest passes automatically to the surviving owner by survivorship, so no grant is needed — form DJP simply brings the register up to date.
If the property was held as tenants in common, form DJP still updates the register — the legal title passed to you on the death either way. The difference is the deceased's share: it belongs to their estate, the Form A restriction stays on the title, and a second trustee (often the executor) or a cancellation of the restriction is needed before the property can be sold. A grant may be needed for the estate, but not for this update.
The surviving joint tenant (or tenants).
You can do it yourself; a solicitor is not required for a straightforward survivorship update, though you can instruct one if the title is unusual or you would prefer support.
There is no statutory deadline.
The deceased's name can stay on the register indefinitely, but the register stays inaccurate until it is updated, which can hold up a future sale or remortgage.
Most people update it promptly so any later dealing can proceed without complications.
No. Registering the death of a joint proprietor carries no Land Registry fee — it is on the exemptions list in Schedule 4 of the Land Registration Fee Order 2024, whatever the property is worth.
Land Registry fees are revised from time to time, so check the current list on GOV.UK before you send it.
Order a copy of the official title register (currently £7 online) and look at the Proprietorship Register.
A 'Form A restriction' — wording that begins 'No disposition by a sole proprietor…' — usually means the property is held as tenants in common.
No such restriction usually means a joint tenancy, where survivorship applies.
If you are unsure, check HM Land Registry's guidance or consider professional advice before applying.
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These free institutional briefs cover the records and context that make this form easier — what to gather before you start.
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Where this fits
DJP is one form. The file behind it is the rest.
Forms are easier when the records are ready.
For the DJP application, that means the property's title number and a copy of the official register (to check for a Form A restriction), the certified copy of the death certificate, form DJP itself, and, if the title carries a Form A restriction, a note of who the deceased's executor or administrator is — they will need to be involved before any sale.
When you're ready — not before — our £179 Executor's First Hour walks you through registering the death, notifying banks and pensions, and getting probate started, in the right order. The free checklist above covers the essentials; this is for when you'd rather have a hand to hold. Executor's First Hour — £179 →
HM Land Registry·18 fields·No Land Registry fee — registering the death of a joint proprietor is free (Land Registration Fee Order 2024, Schedule 4).·15 minutes with Valoren
Goes in together
Removing a deceased joint proprietor is lodged with HM Land Registry using the same AP1 cover application as any other change to the register.
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