If so, she will have acted against her interests, as the property falls to be divided by the Will (subject to the legal matrix of rights for dependant widows)[n 1] as her husband quickly died.

[1] It follows that a desire to sever must evince an intention to bring about the wanted result immediately... Paragraph 3 of the prayer in the [divorce] petition does no more than invite the court to consider at some future time whether to exercise its jurisdiction under section 24 of the 1973 [matrimonial] Act, or, if it does, to do so in one or more of three different ways.Dillon LJ said the following.

[2] Severance is... the process of separating off the share of a joint tenant, so that the concurrent ownership will continue but the right of survivorship will no longer apply.

English family law common process in divorce (replicated at this stage in separation) has increased the likelihood of the reflection of the end of the relationship affecting the financial affairs of the parties.

Under the Family Law Act 1996 a spouse or other cohabitant with shared children will commonly register their interests as part of any separation or divorce while also severing the joint tenancy.