Upon his death, Mr. John Smith was survived by a wife, Jill, and two children from a prior marriage, Rachel and Jack. Mr. Smith died without a will (intestate) and pursuant to his state’s law, his wife owned ? of his separate real estate and his children owned the remaining ? by operation of law. Rachel lived upon the property and desired to own the entire parcel. Jill, Rachel, and Jack

Question

entered into an agreement whereby Jill and Jack would sell Rachel their respective interests in the property, thereby severing their joint ownership. What type of joint ownership was this prior to their agreement?

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

They had a tenancy in common because they didn’t have all of the unities of title. They had the same time -- inheritance; the same title by inheritance; the same possession. They did not have the same interests as Jill’s was ? and the two children’s was ? jointly. That they appear to have ? each should not make a person think they had equal interests with Jill. The interest by the “children” is ?. If there were 3 children, they would have owned a 2/9 interest each, obviously not the same interest as their stepmother, Jill.