Facts
- A married couple acquired a family residence in 1954 as joint tenants.
- In a 1971 divorce, the spouses executed a property settlement agreement that the divorce court adopted as an order.
- The agreement required that the residence be sold and the proceeds divided equally upon the first to occur of: (1) the wife’s remarriage, (2) the youngest child reaching age 21, or (3) mutual agreement to sell.
- After the divorce, the wife remained in the home with the children until her death in October 1972.
- None of the agreement’s sale-triggering events occurred before the wife’s death.
- After her death, the former husband claimed sole title by survivorship under the original joint tenancy.
- The estate’s administratrix and the children filed a quiet title action, asserting the divorce settlement severed the joint tenancy and left the parties as tenants in common.
Issues
- Whether the divorce property settlement agreement severed the joint tenancy and converted the parties’ interests into a tenancy in common, despite legal title remaining in joint names and despite the nonoccurrence of the agreement’s future sale contingencies before death.
Decision
- The Supreme Court of Colorado affirmed.
- The court held the property settlement agreement terminated the joint tenancy and converted the parties’ interests into a tenancy in common.
- As a result, the deceased spouse’s undivided one-half interest passed through her estate to her heirs, and the former husband did not take full title by survivorship.
Legal Principles
- A joint tenancy may be severed by mutual agreement or conduct showing an intent to treat the parties’ interests as separate, even without an immediate conveyance changing record title.
- An agreement requiring future sale of jointly held property and equal division of proceeds evidences an intent inconsistent with continuation of the right of survivorship.
- The operative event for severance can be the binding settlement agreement itself; survivorship does not persist merely because contemplated future sale conditions have not yet occurred.
Conclusion
A divorce property settlement that mandates future sale and equal division of a jointly titled residence manifests an intent to end survivorship and severs the joint tenancy, leaving the former spouses (and, upon death, the decedent’s heirs) as tenants in common.