Facts
- In 1963, Denis M. Porter and Mary Jane Porter acquired a Jefferson County, Alabama residence by deed expressly creating a joint tenancy with right of survivorship, stating the survivor would take the entire fee simple unless severed during their joint lives.
- Denis and Mary Jane divorced in 1976.
- The divorce decree described the residence as property “jointly owned” and granted Mary Jane exclusive occupancy “until a change in circumstances warrants a modification,” while requiring Denis to pay specified expenses (including utilities, insurance, taxes, and mortgage obligations) and maintain the property.
- The decree did not order a sale, partition, conveyance, or division of the property and was never modified.
- Denis later remarried and died in 1983.
- Denis’s estate, through its executrix, asserted the divorce decree severed the joint tenancy and sought sale of the property on the theory the parties became tenants in common.
Issues
- Whether a divorce decree that grants one former spouse exclusive occupancy and allocates payment obligations, without expressly altering title, severs a joint tenancy with right of survivorship and converts it into a tenancy in common.
Decision
- The Supreme Court of Alabama reversed the trial court’s partial summary judgment for the estate.
- The court held the divorce decree did not sever or destroy the joint tenancy with right of survivorship.
- Upon Denis’s death, full fee simple title vested in Mary Jane as the surviving joint tenant.
Legal Principles
- Divorce, by itself, does not necessarily sever a deed-created joint tenancy with right of survivorship.
- A court will not infer severance absent clear action or decree language altering the estate (e.g., ordering sale, partition, conveyance, or expressly redefining fractional ownership).
- A modifiable award of exclusive occupancy and related payment obligations addresses possession and use and does not, without more, eliminate the unity of possession required for a joint tenancy.
- Strong survivorship language in a deed is given effect unless the joint tenancy is clearly severed or terminated during the joint tenants’ lifetimes.
Conclusion
Because the divorce decree regulated possession and expenses but did not change title or mandate division, the joint tenancy with right of survivorship remained in place; the surviving former spouse took the entire property upon the other’s death.