Allison and Amy purchased a 100 acre piece of property in the California mountains. When they purchased the property, the Deed stated, “To Allison and Amy, as equal co-owners with the right of survivorship.”

When they purchased the property, their plan was to redevelop the property into a ranch and animal sanctuary. Within 5 years of the purchase, Allison got married and moved to New York. Amy was left in California, where she got married and developed the property into a ranch with her husband. The title to the property remained the same as it was when the deed was originally recorded.

Amy died in June 2010. Her husband and children assumed they would inherit the land because Amy’s will left everything she owned to them, they built a home on it and had been maintaining and paying property taxes on it for years. However, Allison, who returned from New York for Amy’s funeral, claims the land belongs to her. Who is correct and why?

(Answer in IRAC format- be sure to state and define the rule of law, and apply the rule of law to the facts in your application section. Do not write a facts section.)