A title is a document that proves that you own property such as a home or a car. When you have a car loan your lender will usually have the title until you pay off the loan. When you buy a home you’ll buy title insurance to make sure your home’s title is clear and there are no liens on it. The title insurance company will run a title search to find out. Learn about how to make changes to a title here as well.
Newlyweds With Two Homes
A soon-to-be-wed couple both own their own homes. They would like to sell his home to his adult child and put both their names on her home. They may run into many issues with taxes, equity, and inheritance. When they merge two families and each of them have children, they may need to determine how they want their assets to be split up in case something should happen to either of them.
Protect Home With Estate Planning
Estate planning is crucial to ensuring your family's safety upon the death of a family member. When you live in a home but your name is not on the home's title you risk losing that home if the people who are on the title decide to ask you to move out. When property is co-owned with family members, it's important to structure property ownership in a way that protects you in case they pass away.
Title Unclear After Quit Claim Deed Fraud
What happens when someone executes a quit claim deed to land he or she doesn't own? How long does the rightful property owner have to unravel the quit claim deed? It depends on where the land is located. Each state has its own statute of limitations for title issues such as this quit claim deed situation.
Holding Title As Tenants By Entirety
Titles can be confusing especially in regards to ownership clauses. There are differences and benefits between tenants by the entirety, joint tenancy and tenancy in common. Some real estate attorneys feel that married couples have even better protection with tenancy by the entirety than with joint tenancy with rights of survivorship.
Joint Tenancy With Rights And Tenancy In Common
Holding title in joint tenancy with rights of survivorship means that each owner of the home owns an equal undivided share of the home and in case one of the owners dies the remaining owners automatically own the property together. Changing the title to a tenants in common ownership would allow people to own a property in percentages.
Adding Someone To The Title Of Your Home
Adding an additional person to your title but not the mortgage is usually not a good idea. Essentially you are giving that person half the value of your home, but none of the responsibility or liability.
IRS May Want Equity Forms For Quit Claim Deed Transfer
What do you have to do in terms of taxes if you gift your share of a property using a quit claim deed? It depends on how much equity you own in the property. If you have less than $11,000 in equity in a property you likely don't have to do anything. If you own more equity than that, then you may have to file forms with the IRS describing the value of your share of the property that you quit claimed. An accountant or estate planner should be able to help you determine the tax implications of signing a quit claim deed.
Selling Half A Home
If a home is in two owner's names, either one could sell their half of the home to anyone. But it is unlikely that anyone would want to buy a half of a home. Either owner of the home can bid to purchase the home from the other or the some can be sold to the highest bidder with the proceeds from the sale being split between the owners of the home.
Real Estate Deals Need To Protect Family Members
Sometimes the relationship between parent and child is not enough to save a real estate transaction. Even between family members, you need to have a signed ownership agreement that documents the ownership arrangement. Threatening to withhold inheritance from the child may help this mother get back the proceeds from a mobile home sale.