Legal conundrum. ..

A chap, his ex wife and one of their 5 sons jointly own a house ...chap dies with no will..does ownership go to the ex wife and son now or does chaps third share split up between ALL his sons. ....

It depends whether the chap severed the tenancy, that basically means he took actions that decided he wnated it to be viewed as his 1/3 share rather than be a joint owner.

That could have happened during the divorce, see what orders were made about the house.

If he failed to sever it then it will go by survivorship to the remaining joint owners.

If he did sever it then passes via intestacy rules.

Obviously check with a lawyer.

Try these links

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/relationships/death-and-wills/who-can-inherit-if-there-is-no-will-the-rules-of-intestacy/

https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

Or Maybe it's the contesting of a will that you need after reading the above links?

As mentioned, it's the difference between being joint owners and tenants in common. You then need to look at equitable interests potentially. I'd suggest it's off to a probate lawyer!

Try these links

 

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/relationships/death-and-wills/who-can-inherit-if-there-is-no-will-the-rules-of-intestacy/

 

https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

 

Or Maybe it's the contesting of a will that you need after reading the above links?

If ownership hasnt been severed, then it wont form part of the estate as it passes automatically, so intestacy wont matter for ownership of the house.

A chap, his ex wife and one of their 5 sons jointly own a house ...chap dies with no will..does ownership go to the ex wife and son now or does chaps third share split up between ALL his sons. ....

If ownership hasnt been severed, then it wont form part of the estate as it passes automatically, so intestacy wont matter for ownership of the house.

Yes. If there were three joint proprietors and one dies, the survivors ALWAYS become the joint proprietors.

But that's true ONLY for the legal estate.

What happens to the beneficial (equitable) estate wholly depends on their capacities, i.e. either:

a. beneficial joint tenants (BJT); or

b. beneficial tenants in common (TIC) and- if so- with what shares.

In OP's case:

a. BJT means that the widow and son now own the beneficial (equitable) estate in that same way; whereas

b. TIC means that the Deceased's share passes under intestacy rules.