104 N.J. Eq. 302 | N.J. Ct. of Ch. | 1929
Lands at Mountain Lakes were conveyed to John B. Taylor and Edith M. Taylor (husband and wife) "as joint tenants and not as tenants in common." They subsequently entered into a written contract to convey to the defendant herein, in fee, free from all encumbrances except a mortgage, and before the time arrived for delivering a deed, John B. Taylor died, leaving his wife, the complainant herein, surviving. This suit is brought to compel defendant to accept a deed from complainant pursuant to the contract. The sole dispute between the parties is as to the character of the estate held by complainant and her husband, complainant insisting that they held as tenants by the entirety and defendant contending that the estate was a joint tenancy, it being conceded by the parties that if the tenancy was by the entirety, the lands were not subject to a transfer inheritance tax on the husband's death, while if the estate was a joint tenancy such tax should be assessed and paid before complainant can convey title free from encumbrances.
Our statute (Comp. Stat. p. 1538 § 15) which converted estates theretofore held to be joint tenancies, into tenancies in common, does not affect the common law estate of tenancy by the entirety. Thomas v. DeBaum,
In Coudert v. Earl,