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Transfer property title as surviving joint tenant

We get the title into your sole name, so every bank, insurer and agent deals with you as the owner you already are.

You chose joint ownership precisely so this would not be complicated. The house passes to you on your partner’s death, without a court, because that is what joint tenancy does. Then the bank, the mortgage lender and the titles office all say the same thing: they need formal documentation before they will change their records. What you need is not probate. It is a survivorship transmission, a separate process built for exactly this, and until it is lodged and registered you are the owner of a property you cannot refinance, sell or borrow against.

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Clean title in your name

Every institution that has to deal with you as sole owner gets the registered title it needs, so the ownership stops being a conversation.

No probate, no court

Survivorship sits outside the estate entirely, so the transmission avoids the Supreme Court application and the wait that comes with it.

Duty concessions caught in time

We identify the concessions that depend on lodging within a period of the death, before they lapse rather than after.

What is a survivorship transmission?

When property is held as joint tenants, the right of survivorship gives the surviving owner the deceased owner’s interest automatically on death. The entitlement is immediate, but the title record is not. A formal survivorship transmission application has to be lodged with the land titles office before any lender, agent or government body will recognise you as sole owner. It is a different process from probate: faster, cheaper, and with no Supreme Court application, though it still has to be prepared and lodged in the right form.

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Do I need probate to transfer property as a surviving joint tenant?

No. The right of survivorship is a separate mechanism from probate, and a survivorship transmission avoids the Supreme Court process entirely. That is exactly why joint tenancy is so often used as a succession tool. You do still have to complete the transmission before institutions will deal with you as sole owner.

How long does a survivorship transmission take?

A properly prepared application usually takes a few weeks from lodgement to the updated title issuing. Delays almost always come from incomplete documentation, a missing valuation, or a requisition for something that should have been in the original lodgement.

What documents do I need?

Requirements vary between states. Generally you need the original death certificate, the certificate of title, and a statutory declaration or affidavit. A valuation is sometimes required for duty purposes. Land Services SA is particular about the form of the affidavit and how the title is identified.

Is there stamp duty on a survivorship transfer?

In South Australia a survivorship transmission is generally exempt, though the exemption has conditions and a nominal duty can apply in some cases. Part of the concession is time-sensitive, so lodging within a period of the death can attract better treatment. We check your position at the outset rather than at lodgement.

Is the title still in both names?

We prepare and register survivorship transmissions for surviving joint tenants, from the first review through to clean title in your sole name.

You already own it, and nobody will act as though you do

Most surviving joint tenants find this out at the worst possible moment: sitting in front of a bank officer to refinance, or being told by an agent that the property cannot be listed until the title is clean. You assumed joint tenancy meant the ownership simply moved across. The titles office and every institution behind it need the paperwork before they will agree with you.

We will confirm your entitlement to take the title by survivorship.
We will prepare the transmission application and its supporting documents.
We will check the duty position, including any time-limited concession.
We will lodge with the relevant land titles office on your behalf.
We will manage the matter through to registration in your sole name.

Is this your situation?

You expected joint ownership to be recognised on death, because that is why you chose it. Instead, institutions are treating your ownership as an open question and asking for documents and processes nobody mentioned when the tenancy was set up. There may be a mortgage to manage, equity you need to reach, or a refinance that cannot move until the title is corrected. A family member may even have raised whether the property forms part of the estate at all. You are a legitimate owner dealing with grief and bureaucracy in the same week, and you want it resolved by someone who has done it many times.

What's included in your title transfer service

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Certificate of title, death certificate and tenancy review.
Survivorship transmission application and affidavit preparation.
Stamp duty review, including time-limited concessions.
Land titles office lodgement, requisitions and correspondence.
Notification advice for your lender and insurer.

What an unresolved title costs you

Without a registered survivorship transmission the title stays in joint names, one of them belonging to someone who has died. That title creates problems with lenders, with insurers and with purchasers, and it limits every financial decision you can make about your own home.

The longer it stays that way, the more decisions get deferred and the more urgency builds behind them. Duty concessions that depend on lodging within a period of the death can lapse quietly while you are dealing with everything else. And some people only discover the issue years later, doing their own estate planning, and find that a title still held jointly with a deceased person complicates far more than the transaction in front of them.

How we clear the title

We confirm the survivorship position, review the certificate of title and the tenancy documentation, and prepare a complete transmission application in the form the relevant land titles office actually requires. We lodge it, handle the correspondence and any requisitions, and follow it through to registration, so you are not working out state requirements yourself.

We also check the duty position at the outset, because some concessions are time-sensitive and are lost rather than argued about. Once the transmission is registered you hold clean title in your sole name, which every lender, insurer and purchaser will accept without a conversation. You stop explaining the ownership and start acting on the decisions you have been putting off.

Three steps to title in your name

From the certificate of title to a registered transfer.

Confirm the survivorship

We review the certificate of title, the death certificate and the tenancy documents, and confirm the property passes to you by survivorship.

Prepare and lodge

We prepare the transmission application, the affidavit and the duty documentation, and lodge the lot with the land titles office.

See it registered

We answer any requisitions and follow the lodgement through to registration, then confirm the title is in your sole name.

Lawyers who do this transmission regularly

Losing someone close is hard enough without discovering that the decisions you now have to make are all blocked behind a process you did not know existed. The frustration is fair: you are being asked to prove something that is already true.

We have registered this transmission for many surviving joint tenants, in South Australia and in other states, for people who needed clean title quickly so they could refinance, sell, or simply stop explaining themselves. We know what each titles office asks for, which affidavit form it wants, and which duty concessions run on a clock. You bring the death certificate. We deal with the rest.

Our great lawyer guarantee

Six principles we hold to, whatever you bring us and however long it takes.

Take the time

We listen carefully to understand what you want to achieve, then step you through the advice and the documents.

Share our knowledge

We pass on as much as we can, so you can make your own informed decisions.

Stick to our knitting

We only do what we are good at, so you never pay for our learning.

Work as one team

Someone is always available to answer your question or point you the right way.

Fair pricing

A fixed or capped quote for advice and documents, so you do not carry the price risk.

It is your show

We are in it for a front row seat to witness your success, not for our egos.

Need the title in your name before you can move?

Send us the certificate of title and the death certificate. We will confirm the survivorship position, flag anything that is running on a deadline, and start the application.

Speak to a lawyer 1300 654 590