severance

1. The conversion of an equitable *joint tenancy in land into a *tenancy in common. It may be effected, for example, by mutual agreement of the joint tenants, the bankruptcy of one of them, or by sale of the land or of one joint tenant’s interest by written notice to the other joint tenants. It is not possible to sever a legal joint tenancy, since a tenancy in common cannot exist as a legal estate. Any words in a conveyance of land to two or more people that show an intention that they take separate shares will be construed as words of severance creating an equitable tenancy in common, rather than a joint tenancy.
2. The separation of the good parts of a contract from the bad, which are rejected. The doctrine of severance applies to any contract that is void by statute or common law, or even, in some cases, illegal, provided there are no *public policy grounds against severing (see *void contract). The courts will, if possible, save the contract from total invalidity by severing the offending part.
3. An order amending an *indictment so that the accused is tried separately on any count or counts of the indictment.