Matter of Estate of Vadney

Catherine Vadney hired an attorney to draft a deed conveying her house from her sole ownership to joint ownership with her son Peter, but the deed did not specify the type of tenancy created. After Catherine's death, Peter (as executor) believed the deed created a joint tenancy with survivorship rights, automatically vesting the house in him, and excluded it from the estate assets otherwise divided equally among Catherine's children under her will. The other children argued the deed's silence meant a tenancy in common, keeping the house in the estate.

Whether, under New York law, extrinsic evidence may be introduced to overcome the statutory presumption of tenancy in common where a deed conveying property to more than one person is silent as to the intended tenancy.