Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Arizona
The Rights of the Siblings
If I may, I would like to run this by you to see if the heirs have a legal claim to the property.
I will try my best to be brief and to the point.
Mother dies leaving home to Son. Home is titled in as joint tenants.
Son Sells home by trading for vehicles & a travel trailer. All titles are change on the same date.
Son Titles the above with Girlfriend using the word or on the titles.
Son dies suddenly. Leaves no will, never married, No children. Siblings are only remaining family.
Girlfriend re-registers these vehicles and the Travel Trailer that lived in, into her name 3 days after death.
Girlfriend will not give siblings any paperwork on bank account, vehicles, or property. Stating she never saw anything like that and as far as she knows, he never owned anything like that. The siblings live in California. Brother and Girlfriend lived in Arizona.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: The Rights of the Siblings
The vehicles belong to her. They were a gift at the time the titles were put in the "or" names.
A relative or creditor would have to establish a probate to get the authority to investigate bank accounts and the like. Unless there is thought to be a great deal of money at stake, accepting the girlfriend's statements is probably the prudent thing to do.
Re: The Rights of the Siblings
I'm answering based on California law, but most states are similar, in that joint tenancy property goes to the survivor, unless there's some written agreement stating otherwise, and even with an agreement it's difficult to prove someone other than the surviving joint tenant gets the property. Thus, in this case, the girlfriend appears to be the rightful owner and doesn't have to divulge anything.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
