What event serves to sever a joint tenancy?

In property law, a joint tenancy is a form of co-ownership where two or more individuals have equal interests in the property with a right of survivorship. This means that when one joint tenant dies, their interest automatically passes to the surviving joint tenants.

The event that serves to sever a joint tenancy is a conveyance or sale by one tenant. When a joint tenant decides to sell or transfer their interest in the property to another party, it disrupts the unity of interest, which is one of the key characteristics of joint tenancy. The conveyance creates a tenancy in common between the remaining joint tenants and the new purchaser, meaning that the right of survivorship among the original joint tenants is lost.

While the death of a tenant merely passes their interest to the remaining joint tenants and does not sever the joint tenancy, the act of one tenant conveying their interest actively changes the ownership structure. Filing for divorce or failure to pay rent does not directly affect the joint tenancy either; these scenarios may lead to complications in property management or ownership disputes but do not inherently sever the joint tenancy itself. Thus, conveyance or sale is the only action that directly impacts and alters the nature of the joint tenancy, making it the correct answer.