Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Joint Tenants

If you add the new wife on title, she will become an owner of the property. And she will have rights to use and occupy the premises just as you do.

If your father wants to grant his OWN interest in the property to his new wife, he can do that. However, simply adding one more person to title will dilute your ownership percentage.

Re: Joint Tenants

Joint tenancy is right of survivorship. All people on title have equal access to the property.

This is poor estate planning. You and your father should see an estate planning attorney.

Re: Joint Tenants

If all the interests were and are true joint tenancies, with right of survivorship, all surviving owners share title but no one inherits. However, creating and maintaining joint tenancies can be tricky, and a previous joint tenancy can be broken by an untrained deed drafter's carelessness, resulting in tenancy in common at least as to some of the owners. This in turn could make inheritance of an interest possible.

All co-owners have right of possession, shared with other co-owners. Thus, any owner could rent out the whole place, but the tenant would have to share occupancy with any other co-owner that wanted to exercise his/her right. Sort of an involuntary roommate situation, impractical and messy, but theoretically possible.

Most unhappy cotenancies are broken up by negotiated buy-out deals or through partition auites. Any co-owner can oblige the sale of the property and diviaion of the net proceeds through such an action (with limited exceptions).

Passing property to family members by gift during lifetime is disasterous tax-wise in most cases. It is far better to use a trust; even a will and probate is better.