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Riddle v. Harmon | 162 Cal. Rptr. 530 (1980)

A joint tenancy, or co-ownership of property with the right of survivorship, traditionally could only be terminated by destroying one of the four unities of time, title, interest, and possession. But since the 1950s, many states have abandoned this traditional rule and have instead focused on a joint tenant’s intent to terminate. In Riddle versus Harmon, a California appeals court considered if a joint tenant could terminate a joint tenancy by granting herself a deed to the land.

Jack and Frances Riddle, husband and wife, purchased land in California as joint tenants with the right of survivorship. Several months before Frances’s death, she retained an attorney to plan her estate. After reviewing Frances’s documents, the attorney advised her that the land she owned was held in a joint tenancy and that, upon her death, the land would pass to her husband, Jack, by right of survivorship. Upon learning this information, Frances asked the attorney to assist her in terminating the joint tenancy so that she could dispose of her interest in the land by will.

The attorney prepared a deed whereby Frances granted to herself an undivided one-half interest in the property as a tenant in common. Specifically, the deed stated that its purpose was to terminate the joint tenancy between Frances and Jack. Additionally, the attorney created a will disposing of Frances’s interest in the property. Twenty days after executing the documents, Frances died.

Following Frances’s death, Jack filed an action in superior court against Valerie Harmon, executrix of Frances’s will, seeking to quiet title to the land in his name. The superior court ruled that Jack, as the surviving joint tenant, was the sole owner of the land as a matter of law. Harmon then appealed the decision to the Court of Appeal of California, First District.

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