Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Can joint tenants be added at different times?
I have a house, I added my girlfriend's name to the deed, by grant deed, as joint tenants, then we later added her son's name to the deed as joint tenants (with no agreements to anything). In California, do we really have a joint tenancy? If we don't have a joint tenancy then are their names valid on the deed?

The relationship broke down. I paid for the entire house, all paid off when I bought it, now I want to remove them from the deed, can I do this? If they file partition action can I use the fact that I paid the whole thing and remove them from the deed? Am I SOL?

Asked on 5/02/08, 3:42 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

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Re: Can joint tenants be added at different times?

See my previous answers.

When I suggest that "defective" deeds might be a defense, I mean defects more serious than merely failing to create a joint tenancy; I mean deeds that convey no interest whatsoever.

In your case, you may have created a joint tenancy if your granting clause was properly worded, but more likely if you did this yourself without the assistance of a lawyer, you filed to create a joint tenancy but "succeeded" in giving away an interest, probably as a tenancy in common.

Answered on 5/02/08, 5:08 pm

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