In Machado v. Machado, the California Supreme Court held that a joint tenancy deed creates a presumption that can be overcome only by evidence of a common understanding or agreement between the owners, not by one owner’s hidden intentions.
California Civil Code section 685 defines an interest in common, or tenancy in common: property owned by several persons, not in joint ownership or partnership. Every tenant in common can use the whole property and can partition as of right.
California Civil Code section 682 lists the four ways several people can own property together: joint tenancy, partnership, tenancy in common, and community property. Joint tenants and tenants in common can partition as of right.
California Civil Code section 686 makes co-owners tenants in common by default, unless the property was acquired by a partnership, the deed or will expressly declares a joint tenancy, or it was acquired as community property.
You transfer your share of a co-owned California property by signing, notarizing and recording a deed, without your co-owner’s consent, but the deed’s wording, taxes and any loan all need attention.
California Civil Code section 683 defines a joint tenancy: two or more owners in equal shares, under one deed or will that expressly declares a joint tenancy, with a right of survivorship. Without that declaration, co-owners are tenants in common.
The vesting worksheet signed during escrow is usually why a deed says joint tenants or tenants in common. Co-owners who say they never agreed usually signed it, and the choice affects a California partition action.
Right of survivorship lets a surviving co-owner automatically take a deceased co-owner’s share without probate, but only if title is held the right way. When the deed is unclear, disputes follow.
Parents and children often hold title as joint tenants so the property passes automatically to the survivor. But a joint tenancy can be severed, which can upend what the child expected.
Joint tenancy includes the right of survivorship. But if one joint tenant transfers their interest during their lifetime, the joint tenancy is severed and survivorship is lost for that share.
Tenancy in common is the most common and default form of co-ownership in California. Here is how it works and how it differs from joint tenancy.
When a California joint tenant dies, the survivor takes their share by right of survivorship and records an affidavit of death to show the change in ownership. Here is how it works.
Many deeds name three or more co-owners without saying how much each owns. That question becomes critical in a partition action. Here are the factors courts consider.
Both joint tenants and tenants in common share ownership of the same property, but their rights differ sharply, especially when an owner dies.
In a joint tenancy, co-owners hold equal shares with a right of survivorship. Here is how joint tenancy is created in California and what happens when it ends.
Milian v. De Leon (1986) 181 Cal.App.3d 1185 held that once a partition court finds a true joint tenancy, the co-owners generally share equally without reimbursement for unequal contributions.
One of the most common co-ownership disputes is what happens when one co-owner paid more than their share of the down payment. Here is how a partition action handles it.
Severing a joint tenancy changes what happens to your share when you die. Here is what severance means, why it matters, and how a co-owner can do it.
Representing co-owners statewide. Find your nearest Talkov Law office.
Practical guides from attorneys who focus exclusively on California partition actions.
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