Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
grant deed
on my grant deed it states--name removed--F--name removed--a married man
as his sole and seperate property and Thomas W. Nealon,Jr.a single man as Joint tenants.Will this pose a problem for my wife who is not named on this document if i should die.Will she automatically retain the property with her brother who is named on the deed.Also because she isn't specifically named will she have to go through probate.Would it be sinpler to change the deed and name her specifically with myself and her brother.
4 Answers from Attorneys
Re: grant deed
why would you have done this ?????? your wife has an equitable interest even though the deed is in jint tenancy and if you die could create some have costly litigition -- get an estate planning/ probate attorney and tell him/her what you intent is, why you did this seemingly foolish act and what your intent as to your wife is???????
Re: grant deed
As the deed currently reads, the surviving joint tenant would inherit the entire property. If you want to fix this, sever the joint tenancy. Then you should put the property in a living trust. You will need to be careful about how you how you characterize the transaction if you want to avoid changing it from separate property to a gift of community property.
As always, you should consult a qualified probate/estate planning attorney in your area.
Re: grant deed
the deed appears to be in joint tenancy. this means that if one joint tenant dies, the other will receive the property in full. you should retain a qualified estate planning attorney to assist you with any change to ownership of this property.
Re: grant deed
Joint tenants is right of survivorship. If you die, she gets nothing, and the property goes 100% to the brother.
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