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Can future heirs negate a mediation agreement?

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twelvegates

Junior Member
I will try to make this brief. I am trying to help an elderly neighbor who lives in Colorado.

Mrs. Neighbor found out that two of her husband's adult children from a previous marriage had him sign forms that dissolved the joint tenancy on their home and changed ownership to a tenancy in common, leaving his half of the property to all of his children. He also signed an agreement at a bank to change the beneficiary designation on his IRA, replacing his wife and all of their children with the names of his children only.

When she discovered these actions, she was appointed his conservator and guardian. Mr. Neighbor was diagnosed with dementia about 10 years ago.

Mrs. Neighbor then asked the court to overturn the beneficiary changes and the judge ordered the parties to mediation. The parties (Mr. Neighbor's two children and Mrs. Neighbor) signed an initial agreement in principle, and the attorney for the children then prepared a longer mediation contract which has signature blocks for Mrs. Neighbor as well as all of her children and all of Mr. Neighbor's children.

The adult children who were not present at the mediation do not agree with the agreement in principle and will not sign it.

Must the children who were not present at the mediation sign the agreement to make it binding?
 


adjusterjack

Senior Member
I suggest you direct Mrs Neighbor to her attorney and you stay out of it. You are giving us second hand information that doesn't make any sense.

For example:

had him sign forms that dissolved the joint tenancy on their home and changed ownership to a tenancy in common,
When two people own property as joint tenants (with right of survivorship) one of them doesn't just "sign forms" to change the ownership to tenants in common. It takes both their signatures on a deed conveying the property from themselves as joint tenants to themselves as tenants in common.

So please, back away and sent her to her attorney. Otherwise, any help you give her is likely to make things worse. Not to mention that you may be committing the crime of practicing law without a license.
 

Taxing Matters

Overtaxed Member
When two people own property as joint tenants (with right of survivorship) one of them doesn't just "sign forms" to change the ownership to tenants in common. It takes both their signatures on a deed conveying the property from themselves as joint tenants to themselves as tenants in common.
I'm sorry, but that is not correct. In Colorado when two people own property as joint tenants with a right of survivorship one of them may break the joint tenancy unilaterally. The other co-owner's consent or participation is not necessary. The Colorado Supreme Court made that clear in a 2004 decision stating:

Therefore, we find no common law or legislative support for preventing a landowner from doing directly what he can do indirectly. We hold that a joint tenant who unilaterally conveys his interest in real property back to himself, with the intent of creating a tenancy in common, effectively severs the joint tenancy as to that joint tenant and the remaining joint tenant or tenants.
Taylor v. Canterbury, 92 P.3d 961, 962–63 (Colo. 2004). While many decades ago the law in many states was that (1) you could not convey a property interest from yourself to yourself and (2) you could not unilaterally break a join tenancy, that has changed with more and more states deciding, as Colorado has done, that these two old principles of property law are outdated and no longer serve any real useful purpose (if they ever did).

Must the children who were not present at the mediation sign the agreement to make it binding?
No. But understand that the children who do not sign are not bound by the agreement. And if their interests are impacted by what has gone on, that is a problem because they may yet challenge whatever is done and upset everything. Consult a Colorado attorney to review what is going on if you don't have an attorney already and get advice as to which persons you really need to have involved with any agreement to make sure that no one will upend things later on.
 

twelvegates

Junior Member
Thank you Taxing Matters. Mrs. Neighbor does have an attorney, but he retired and she is searching for a new one. Just wanted to know what the ramifications were.
 

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