California Probate Code 5042 – (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), a joint tenancy …
(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), a joint tenancy between the decedent and the decedent’s former spouse, created before or during the marriage or registered domestic partnership, is severed as to the decedent’s interest if, at the time of the decedent’s death, the former spouse is not the decedent’s surviving spouse as defined in Section 78, as a result of the dissolution or annulment of the marriage or registered domestic partnership. A judgment of legal separation that does not terminate the status of spouses is not a dissolution for purposes of this section.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not sever a joint tenancy in either of the following cases:
Terms Used In California Probate Code 5042
- Community property: means :
California Probate Code 28
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Joint tenancy: A form of property ownership in which two or more parties hold an undivided interest in the same property that was conveyed under the same instrument at the same time. A joint tenant can sell his (her) interest but not dispose of it by will. Upon the death of a joint tenant, his (her) undivided interest is distributed among the surviving joint tenants.
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- Property: means anything that may be the subject of ownership and includes both real and personal property and any interest therein. See California Probate Code 62
- Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
- Spouse: includes domestic partner, as defined in Section 37 of this code, as required by §. See California Probate Code 72
(1) The joint tenancy is not subject to severance by the decedent at the time of the decedent’s death.
(2) There is clear and convincing evidence that the decedent intended to preserve the joint tenancy in favor of the former spouse.
(c) Nothing in this section affects the rights of a subsequent purchaser or encumbrancer for value in good faith who relies on an apparent severance under this section or who lacks knowledge of a severance under this section.
(d) For purposes of this section, property held in “joint tenancy” includes property held as community property with right of survivorship, as described in § 682.1 of the Civil Code.
(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 50, Sec. 84. (SB 1005) Effective January 1, 2017.)