Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

That depends on a highly detailed point as to how the co-ownership was specifically held before the death. There are a number of obscure forms of ownership but the three common ones that cover the vast majority of land titles are joint tenants,tenants in common, and community property. Each of the three can be created intentionally, or by operation of law if a specific form is not intentionally an correctly created. Each would result in a different set of ownership claims based on both what form is legally in effect and the family and other relationships of the deceased. And all this assumes there is no will, which would add another whole set of legal issues.

So the bottom line is the answer to you question depends on a lot of specific details, and then depending on the details there might not be an indisputable answer.