Kipp v. Chips Estate

This dispute over the language in a deed requires us to decide whether the co-owners of a parcel of land in Newfane held the property as joint tenants with a right of survivorship so that the death of a co-owner extinguished the interest of his heirs in the realty. Concluding that the deed created a tenancy in common, the superior court awarded an undivided one-half interest to defendant, the estate of co-owner Ervin W Chips. Plaintiff and co-owner June Kipp appeals, contending that the deed provides for a joint tenancy or, alternatively, that the deed is ambiguous such that the court should…