A Tribunal judge can certainly take a view as to whether a document successfully creates a joint tenancy, but of course only for the purpose of the HB decision. I have just had a UT decision on the reverse situation: where the T/A is in one name but the FtT took the view that it was a de facto joint tenancy. The UT has remitted the case to be reheard because the FtT did not give adequate reasons or make adequate findings of fact to support its conclusion about the tenancy – the rehearing Tribunal will have to do that now. But yes, the Tribunal can go behind the written T/A if it thinks there is evidence that it doesn’t reflect the true intentions of the parties.
The decision is UA-2022-001625-HB, not on the UT website yet.
The Judge can also decide on the appropriate percentage split between the joint tenants, if it is a joint tenancy.
