Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
My mother passed away 6yrs ago and was co-owner of a vacant lot. The deed does not indicate vesting. It only reads "his legal name, her legal name, an Umarried woman". Who does her half of title transfer to? The co-owner or her heirs? It was a sudden death, no will.
2 Answers from Attorneys
In the absence of the magic words "joint tenants," they would be tenants in common, meaning her share goes to her heirs under intestate succession law.
Unless the co-owners are married (to each other), when the deed is silent on the manner in which title will be held, the co-owners will be tenants in common. Each tenant in common can control who inherits by will or trust, or if they die intestate, their share of ownership passes to their legal heirs under the laws of intestate succession, Probate Code section 6402 probably being most relevant if she were unmarried at the time of her death.
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