Cahill v. United States

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In 1999, Robert Hall, Jr. purchased property in Roswell, Georgia. In April 2005, after having married Cathleen Mary Cahill, Hall recorded a quitclaim deed that transferred the Roswell property to “Robert A. E. Hall, Jr. and Cathleen M. Cahill as Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship.” Approximately three years later, the couple divorced. Pursuant to a settlement agreement incorporated into a final judgment and decree of divorce, Cahill was to have “exclusive use and possession” of the Roswell property until she reached the age of 66, at which point the property would be sold and the net proceeds divided equally between the parties; the decree dictated that both Hall and Cahill were to “remain on the title” until the property was sold. In the following years, Hall failed to pay federal taxes, and, in February 2013, a notice of federal tax lien was filed against “all property and rights belonging” to Hall. Cahill resided on the property until her death on April 19, 2015; the property was not listed for sale before her death. The Estate of Mary Cathleen Cahill filed a quiet title action against the United States of America in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, seeking a determination that the right of survivorship was severed before Cahill’s death, thus giving her estate a one-half interest in the property. The Estate argued that the settlement agreement demonstrated an intent to sever the joint tenancy, while the Government argued that the parties’ failure to address the issue amounted to an unambiguous retention of the right of survivorship. The federal district court certified a question of Georgia law to the Georgia Supreme Court, questioning the effect of the parties' divorce decree on the joint tenancy with right of survivorship. Though the divorce decree plainly addresses the use, possession, and eventual sale of the property – as well as the names on the deed to the property – the decree is silent on the question of the survival of the joint tenancy, and the Georgia Supreme Court concluded the provision was, in fact, ambiguous. The Court found the divorce decree in this case severed the joint tenancy with right of survivorship created by the April 2005 deed. View "Cahill v. United States" on Justia Law