Estate of Dean

In Estate of Dean (1945) 68 Cal.App.2d 86, the court found there was a conflict between the caption of a rental agreement for a safe deposit box which read, " 'Joint Tenants' . . . '(One signature required--Right of survivorship),' " and the body of the rental agreement, which contained no express declaration of title or survivorship rights. (Id. at pp. 90-92.) The Dean court found the writing was "uncertain and ambiguous as to whether it was the intention of the parties to create a joint tenancy in the ownership of the contents of the box," and therefore the trial court properly received parol and documentary evidence to determine the decedent's intent in signing the agreement. (Id. at pp. 92, 97.) Ultimately, the trial court in Dean found no joint tenancy and the Court of Appeal affirmed. (Id. at pp. 87, 98.) In Dean, the Court of Appeal found a bank rental agreement for a safe deposit box was uncertain and ambiguous where the caption contained words indicating the parties were joint tenants with survivorship rights, but the body of the agreement contained no such declaration of title. (Dean, supra, 68 Cal.App.2d at pp. 90-92.)