Can a joint tenancy title be changed without permission of the other joint tenant, and is my mother entitled to all or half of the property?
If the divorce settlement papers didn’t specify what was to happen to the house title after the divorce, each still owned half of the house after the divorce. A joint tenant with right of survivorship does not need permission from another joint tenant to change the ownership method to “tenants in common.” Also, your mother’s ex-husband could have sold his half-interest in the property or given it away without her permission. Presuming the ex-husband executed and recorded a valid quitclaim deed from himself as a joint tenant to himself as a tenant in common, that broke up the joint tenancy without notifying your mother. The result is the ex-husband’s half of the house became subject to his will, which apparently left his half of the house to the nephew. Under the law of virtually every state, your mother still owns her half of the house, but as a tenant in common and not as a joint tenant with right of survivorship. The fact her name is on the mortgage papers is irrelevant to the title.
