BERNICE LOSEY, APPELLANT,
v.
DEAN LOSEY, RUTH BOWERS, HOWARD LOSEY, JR., AND HOWARD LOSEY, APPELLEES
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Bernice Losey appealed a decree quieting title to real estate in favor of the children of Howard Losey's first marriage. The court held that even if Howard and his first wife Esther initially held the property as tenants by the entirety, that tenancy was terminated by subsequent deeds and partnership agreements creating a tenancy in common with the children, so Esther's interest passed to the children through her estate rather than to her surviving spouse.
The court affirmed the lower court's decree, holding that even assuming a tenancy by the entirety originally existed between Howard and Esther, it was terminated by the deeds and partnership agreements that created a tenancy in common with the children. Consequently, Esther's interest passed to the children through her estate rather than to Howard by survivorship, and Howard could convey no better title to appellant than he possessed.
“even if such a tenancy by the entirety did exist, that tenancy was terminated and a tenancy in common with the children created by the deeds and partnership agreements”
Establishes the court's holding that the deeds and partnership agreements terminated any original tenancy by the entirety
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceHoward Losey and his first wife Esther owned real property as husband and wife. Through various deeds and partnership agreements, they conveyed one-fo…
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This is an appeal by the defendant, Bernice Losey, from a final decree rendered in a suit brought by the issue of her husband’s first marriage to quiet title to several parcels of real estate. Howard Losey and his first wife, Esther Losey, owned certain real property, conveyance having been to them as husband and wife without further clarification. Through various deeds and related partnership agreements, the Loseys conveyed a one-fourth interest in all of the property to each of their three children. When Esther Losey died, Howard Losey served as personal representative of the probate estate, which consisted entirely of Esther’s interest in the property. Esther Losey willed her estate to the children. Subsequently, Howard Losey remarried and granted to his second wife, appellant herein, an interest as tenants by the entirety in the one-fourth of the real estate not deeded to the children. The children then brought suit to quiet title. The lower court rejected defendant’s argument that Howard and Esther Losey had been tenants by the entirety, and that upon the death of the wife the entire interest in the property vested in the survivor, enabling him to then transfer that interest to her.
We agree with the chancellor and affirm. For the purposes of this appeal, it is unnecessary to decide whether Howard *284and Esther Losey originally acquired the property as a tenancy by the entirety.1 We are of the opinion that even if such a tenancy by the entirety did exist, that tenancy was terminated and a tenancy in common with the children created by the deeds and partnership agreements.2 This being so, Esther Losey’s interest in the property passed to the children through her estate, not to her surviving spouse by operation of law. And since Howard Losey could convey to the appellant no better title than he had, it is clear that the appellees were entitled to the decree rendered below.
Affirmed.
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Citator
Cited By
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Losey v. Losey, 221 So. 2d 417 (Fla. 1969)…estate by the entireties. It seems clear that the District Court was eminently correct in its announcement of the general proposition that “a tenancy by the entirety may be terminated by the joint action of both parties.” Losey v. Losey, Fla.App., 207 So. 2d 283, 284, n. 2. Support for this view is found in 41 Am. Jur.2d, Husband and Wife, § 71, which states: “There can be no severance of an estate by the entireties by the act of either spouse alone, and hence, neither can convey or dispose of any part of…
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Losey v. Losey, 222 So. 2d 791 (Fla. 3d DCA 1969)…PER CURIAM. WHEREAS, the judgment of this court was entered on February 20, 1968 (207 So. 2d 283) affirming the final decree of the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit for Dade County, Florida, in the above styled cause; and WHEREAS, on review of this court’s judgment, by certiorari, the Supreme Court of Florida, by its opinion and…
Authorities Cited
- Dodson v. Nat'l Title Ins. Co., 159 Fla. 371 (Fla. 1947)
- In re Est. of E. L. Lyons, 90 So. 2d 39 (Fla. 1955)
- Crawford v. United States Fid. & Guar. Co., 139 So. 2d 500 (Fla. 1st DCA 1962)