Quit Claim Deed vs. Living Trust
When deciding how to pass on property to loved ones, there are many choices. You can transfer property now using a quit claim deed. You can transfer property later using a will. Or, you can place your property in a living trust now and set forth your wishes for the disposition of your property in…
When you have financial troubles, it's hard enough managing one home. If you have multiple homes, you may have even more trouble. You can only have one primary residence. It's at your primary residence that you have your mail sent, where you vote, where you pay income taxes, and where you spend most…
Refinance Mortgage To Remove Name From Old Mortgage But Not From Title
If you need to remove your name from and old mortgage but don't want to remove your name from title, you may have to refinance the old loan and then make sure that your name and credit are not needed for the new loan. The loan and the ownership of title are different items and can sometimes work in…
Divorce Decree vs. Quit Claim Deed
You get divorced. You refinance your home. Your ex-spouse gives you a quit claim deed. End of story? Not so, says this reader whose ex-spouse wants half of the proceeds from the sale of the home 13 years after the quit claim deed and and 14 years after the divorce. Does the divorce decree trump the…
Transferring Home To Children When You Co-Own The Home With Them
Many parents want to transfer their home to their children during their lifetime, rather than wait until they have died and transfer the property by will. In some cases, transferring a home to a child when the parent is living may be a mistake. In other cases, if the planning is done right, the…
Quit Claim Deeds and Divorce: Better To Refinance Mortgage After Divorce
Signing a quit claim deed upon a divorce can be a mistake. You are much better off refinancing the mortgage after the divorce than letting your ex-spouse control the home by giving him or her title to the home using a quit claim deed. There are other options at the time of the divorce other than a…
Only Sign Quit Claim Deed When You Are Sure Your Name Is Removed From Mortgage
We frequently write articles about quit claim deeds and removing names from mortgages. The important thing for people to understand is that the ownership of a piece of property, a home, or any piece of real estate is independent from the debt obligations people have. That is to say, if you own a…
$8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Will Expire December 1, 2009, Will It Be Extended
Will the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit be extended? This and other questions about the first time home buyer tax credit are on the minds of home buyers as they try to figure out the best deal in the housing market. Should a daughter buy a house from her parents or should she use a quit…
Quit Claim Deed Vs. Warranty Deed To Transfer Property Ownership From Father to Son
Quit claim deeds are a popular tool used by many, but in some cases a warranty deed is a better option. When a relative owns a home, should you quit claim that home to a child? Usually, you shouldn't use a quit claim deed to avoid estate planning issues. The better option is to work with an estate…
Using a Quit Claim Deed Will Transfer Title And Nullify Your Wishes in Your Will
If you own a property and use a quit claim deed and later record that quit claim deed transfering title to someone while you're alive, how does that affect the terms of your will after you're dead? Does using and recording a quit claim deed before you die nullify the terms of your will? A reader…
Quit Claim Deed Won't Solve Joint Ownership Problem
A quit claim deed is a great document to use when you just want to get rid of a property and don't care about the consequences. When people own a valuable home, using a quit claim deed isn't usually the right thing to do. In this question, a reader wants to know whether a quit claim deed is the…
Transferring Ownership Of Home Between Family Members
Transferring home ownership between family members can be problematic. Often, family members help each other out with a signature or by putting their name on the mortgage. However, you need to consider more than just a quit claim deed to transfer a title. Who is responsible for mortgage payments…
Refinance Or Pay Off Mortgage Loan To Remove Name
When you buy a home with someone, regardless of what type of home it is, the only ways to remove yourself or the other party from the mortgage is to either refinance or to pay off the mortgage loan. While you can ask the mortgage lender to remove one of the name's it's unlikely the lender will agree…
Homeowners Association Requires Board Members Own Property
Condominium developments usually have a homeowners association or condominium board. To be a member of a homeowners association or condominium board you usually have to be a property owner. What if you sign away your property ownership rights with a quit claim deed? Can you still sit on the…
Capital Gains Owed On Quit Claimed Home?
Capital gains taxes may be owed on a home that was quit-claimed. Generally, if you live in a home for two years as a primary residence, a certain amount of profits can be kept tax-free. With property acquired through a quit-claim, capital gains taxes will be owed on the difference between the price…
Use Quit Claim Deed To Retain Property After Divorce
Should you add your future spouse's name to property you bought prior to your marriage? If you add your future spouse's name to your house deed or title, that gives your future spouse some ownership of your house. If the marriage ends in divorce, you may ask your spouse to sign a quit claim deed…
Reversing A Quit Claim Deed When Unmarried Couple Separates
When you want to ensure that your roommate has a place to live you may think about signing over part of your property ownership using a quit claim deed. Unless you want your roommate or partner to inherit the home as well, a quit claim deed may not be the right document to use for estate planning…
Taxes Owed On Home Sold For $10?
An heir sold her half of inherited property to her sister for $10 using a quit claim deed and wonders if she owes taxes on the sale. The taxes owed, if any, will be small because of the low sales price.
Removing Name With Quit Claim Deed
A daughter owns a home with her parents but is considering using a quit claim deed to remove her name from the title so she can buy a home with her husband. Signing a quit claim deed will remove her from the title but will not take away her obligations of the mortgage. The daughter should wait to…
Hire Attorney, Don't Sign Quit Claim Deed
When you buy property with a friend and later decide to part ways it's important to make sure each of you get a fair share of what you put into the property. If you sign a quit claim deed you give up all your ownership rights to the property. Be careful when signing a quit claim deed -- it does not…
Is Quit Claim Deed Good Idea In Divorce?
A wife asks her husband to sign a quit claim deed to sign over their home to her since they are getting a divorce. The husband intends to let her live there and he will keep making mortgage payments, but should he sign this quit claim deed? Signing the quit claim deed will cause him to lose leverage…
Quit Claim Deed Validity Determines Inheritance Rights
If a quit claim deed is signed but never recorded and the former owner dies, who inherits the home? An Ohio family owns a West Virginia property through a quit claim deed but they never recorded the quit claim deed. The law of West Virginia, where the property is located, should determine whether…
Refinancing Required To Remove Name From Mortgage
When you sign a quit claim deed, it removes your name from the home's title, but if your name is on the mortgage, you still have financial responsibility. To remove your name from a mortgage loan the loan must go through refinancing. A quit claim deed only change's a home's ownership, not its…
Title Company Can Resolve Quit Claim Deed
Regardless of whether you've been paying property taxes, to really be a property owner your name has to be listed on the property's title. In one family's case some land was signed over using a quit claim deed and one of the heirs is now unsure whether she's listed on the title or is the owner. It…
Quit Claim Deed: Does Last Survivor Own The Home?
Property owners often use quit claim deeds to transfer title to a property or home. If a quit claim deed names multiple people as property owners and they pass away, does that leave the last quit claim signatory as the property owner? Does someone become the sole owner of a home since a quit claim…
