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       #Post#: 28--------------------------------------------------
       Riddle v. Harmon
       By: SunsetSailor Date: January 27, 2011, 10:12 pm
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       FACTS:  Riddle’s wife (P), the decedent, owned certain real
       property in joint tenancy with Riddle (P).  When she was
       planning her estate, she did not want her interest in the parcel
       to pass to her husband (P).  Her attorney advised her to
       terminate the joint tenancy by granting herself an undivided ½
       interest in the property, making her a tenant in common.  A
       grant deed was drawn up to that effect, and a will devising her
       tenancy in common to a third party was executed.  Riddle (P),
       upon his wife’s death, challenged her estate plan.
       T1: FR & JR—JTWROS
       T2: FR (JTWROS)FR(TIC)
       T3: FR (TIC)Harmon
       T$: FR dies
       Better way for lawyer to do this was to have her transfer her
       interest to a “strawman” who would then transfer it back to her
       (usually a strawman is an office assistant/secretary)
       EX:  T1: FRStrawman (TIC)
       T2: Strawman(TIC)FR(TIC) (Joint tenancy
       CANNOT be
       revived b/c it has been shattered)
       COMMON LAW—Could NOT create joint tenancy in yourself with
       someone else (needed to use a strawman)
       
       TODAY—Most states (CA) allow you to create a joint tenancy in
       yourself
       Another way to do this was to put the interest in Trust, & at
       the time the grantor wanted, the trust would be transferred back
       PROCEDURE:
       o Trial Court:  Determined that Frances Riddle DID NOT
       convey her interest from a joint tenant to herself as a tenant
       in common; Harmon (D) her executrix appealed
       o Court of Appeals:  Reversed
       ISSUE: Whether Frances Riddle (now deceased) unilaterally
       terminated a joint tenancy by conveying her interest from
       herself as a joint tenant to herself as a tenant in common.
       RULES:
       o An indisputable right of each joint tenant is the
       power to convey his or her separate estate by way of gift or
       otherwise without the knowledge or consent of the other joint
       tenant and to thereby terminate the joint tenancy (280)
       o One joint tenant may unilaterally sever the joint
       tenancy without the use of an intermediary devise (284)
       o A joint tenancy may be terminated by the conveyance
       by one joint tenant of his interest in the joint tenancy
       property to himself (BRIEF)
       ANALYSIS:  Mrs. Riddle turned her interest from a joint tenancy
       into a tenancy in common (destroyed Mr. Riddle’s right of
       survivorship).  Therefore, she could pass her interest onto a
       third party upon her death and Mr. Riddle would not get her part
       of the property.
       CONCLUSION:  Reversed
       NO FIDUCIARY DUTY B/W JOINT TENANT
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