California State University Northridge Co Ownership of Real Estate Paper

Althea and Agnes both hold title to land in Montana as joint tenants with right of survivorship. The land is 640 acres. The two women acquired the property when they were younger, with the understanding that they would always be there for each other to take care of maintaining the property together. And they assumed that the survivor would carry on with the property’s development and up keeping after the other passed away. 5 years after they purchased the land, Althea married and moved to California. Agnes stayed in Montana, got married, and continued to develop the property with her husband. The title to the property remained the same as when the deed was originally recorded when they purchased the land. Agnes died I June 1994. Her husband and children assumed they would inherit the land because Agnes had left everything to them in her will. They had spent their whole time together as a family taking care of the property and were the only ones who did any maintenance on the land. However, Althea returned to Montana for Agnes’s funeral, and claimed the land belongs to her now. Who is correct and why?