Q: Can you please verify who the rightful heir would be, based on the following, intestate, scenario involving real estate?
Owner A and Owner B, who are legally married, are both on the title for their Florida home. (I don't believe this is relevant but, Owner A originally owned the home individually by himself and later added Owner B, through quit claim deed, which does not make reference to or specify how title would be held going forward.. joint tenants, tenant by entirety, etc. They were not yet married at the time of deed transfer so the deed references them as "single" individuals. They were legally married a few years later in New York). Owner A passed away in 2018 then, roughly just 2 months later, Owner B passed away also. There are no kids and parents on both sides are deceased. My question is, even though they are both still listed on title, did sole ownership legally default to Owner B upon Owner A's death, leaving just Owner B's descendants as the rightful heirs-at-law to the estate? Or would heirs from both sides be entitled?
A: Since they were not acknowledged as married on the title and no qualifying language as to the nature of the title they both owned as tenants in common, meaning they both owned a divisible one half interest. When A died his divisible one half interest went into his estate so his estate and B both had title. When B died her divisible interest went into her estate, so now the property is owned by the estate of A and the estate of B. If neither had a will then each divisible one half may be inherited by relatives on each side as specified by F.S. 732.101 intestate succession and/or 732.102 spouses share of intestate succession, which would have given B entire share, but most likely will need 2 estates to resolve this.
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