Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Joint Tenancy

An attorney in fact transferring property to himself is quite suspicious as a likely fraud on his principal - unless the principal (your father) received fair value in return (and maybe even then). I would approach this as an instance of overstepped powers and a fraud on your father, but why not just ask him (if you can) what he had in mind? Try to see a copy of the power of attorney.

The immediate apparent effect is to sever the joint tenancy and create, in its place, a tenancy in common between your brother and you. If the deed is fraudulent because your brother lacked authority to execute a deed to himself, the deed is probably legally void, but a court would have to be ased to rule on this via a suit for cancellation of the deed.

Re: Joint Tenancy

First of all, your brother cannot exercise his power of attorney to transfer interest in real property to himself, and the quit claim deed can be voided, unless the power of attorney expressly authorizes him to make such transfer. If you and your father owned a property as joint tenants, each of you own a 1/2 undivided interest and whoever dies first, the survivor gets the whole property. When a joint tenant transfers his interest in the property to himself or another person, it severs the joint tenancy, and this just means that when one of the owners die, the surviving owner does not get the deceased owner's interest. If left as is, you own 1/2 interest in the property and your brother owns the other 1/2 interest, as tenants in common. If your brother predecease you, then his 1/2 interest would go to his Estate. Likewise, if you predecease your brother, your 1/2 interest would go to your Estate.