Background
Leo Barker and Wendy Schuette, an unmarried couple, owned Schuette’s childhood home as joint tenants with full rights of survivorship. Barker filed a partition action seeking to sell the property and divide the proceeds equally. The trial court later entered a stipulated order requiring the parties to sell the property, cooperate with the sale, and divide the proceeds.
The sale was not completed, and the trial court never entered an order partitioning the property. Barker died while the litigation remained pending. Although no representative was formally substituted for him, the trial court continued proceedings, ordered Schuette to vacate the property, and authorized the parties’ daughter to sign sale documents. Schuette then sought relief from judgment, arguing that Barker’s property interest had ended upon his death. The trial court denied relief, and Schuette appealed by leave granted.
The Court’s Holding
The Court of Appeals held that Barker’s death extinguished his pending partition claim and vested fee-simple ownership of the property in Schuette as the surviving joint tenant. Merely filing a partition action or agreeing to sell the property did not sever the joint tenancy. Severance required completion of the contemplated sale or entry of an order effectuating partition, neither of which occurred before Barker died.
The court rejected Schuette’s separate contention that dismissal was mandatory solely because no substitution motion had been filed. The 91-day deadline for substitution under Michigan Court Rule 2.202 was never triggered because no statement of Barker’s death had been formally filed and served. Nevertheless, substitution was unavailable because Barker’s underlying property interest and partition claim were extinguished by the survivorship arrangement. The court reversed the order denying relief from judgment and remanded for dismissal in Schuette’s favor.
Key Takeaways
- A pending partition action does not itself sever a joint tenancy with full rights of survivorship.
- If a joint tenant dies before a sale is completed or a partition order is entered, ownership passes automatically to the surviving joint tenant.
- The 91-day substitution deadline following a party’s death begins only after a statement of death is properly filed and served.
Why It Matters
The decision underscores that an agreement or expressed intention to sell jointly held property may not defeat survivorship rights. Parties seeking to terminate a joint tenancy must complete the transfer or obtain an effective partition order before either joint tenant dies.
It also distinguishes procedural substitution after death from substantive survival of a claim: even when the substitution deadline has not begun, there is nothing to substitute if the deceased party’s underlying right was extinguished by operation of law.